


The Bond We Share

by Pamgie



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Developing Relationship, Drama & Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up Together, Masturbation in Shower, Oral Sex, Sex, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 22:03:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 81,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16463171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pamgie/pseuds/Pamgie
Summary: Laxus and Lucy start out as children growing up in Fairy Tail until certain events send both their lives in different directions. This is a story of a friendship that stands the test of time and becomes something much much more. Slightly A/U and will somewhat follow the anime but with some changes.





	1. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally started writing this on FFnet in December of 2015. I've decided to post all my stories on AO3 now as well.

The Bond we Share

Chapter 1: The beginning

The year was x776 and spring was in full bloom in Magnolia. The mage guild Fairy Tail was celebrating….nothing in particular, just celebrating, at Magnolia park under the Sakura tree. People were eating and dancing, and children were playing. And two children in particular were forging a friendship, no a bond, that would stand the test of time, though neither of them knew what lay ahead of them.

"Tag, you're it!" A little blonde girl chirped as she tagged a slightly taller blonde who was eating a hot dog. "Catch me if you can Lax!" She started running away as fast as her little legs would carry her.

"Huh?" Laxus felt the soft touch of a delicate hand and felt the slight breeze the young celestial wizard created when she started to run. He turned around and saw Lucy running towards the sakura tree.

"Oh I don't think so! You can't out run the lighting god!" Laxus began his pursuit and headed in Lucy's direction.

Lucy reached the sakura tree and turned around to see Laxus not far behind. She ran behind the tree and poked her head around the side with a smile brighter than the sun.

"You can't hide from me Lulu, I'm the king of tag you know."

"Yeah? W-Well, I'm the queen and I'll beat you, you'll see I'm super fast!"

"We'll see about that." Laxus replied as he slowly inched his way closer to the tree. Lucy meanwhile was ever so subtly making her way around the other side of the tree. Laxus noticed this and soon after, a chase around the trunk of the tree commenced. One second they were going in one direction, then Laxus would corner Lucy and she'd high tail it in the other direction. Laxus could see Lucy was having the time of her life but was beginning to tire. He switched directions again and caught lucy off guard and tackled her to the ground. They rolled around a few times, laughing so hard they weren't even making any sound. Finally they both settled on their backs and looked up into the sky.

"See? Told you I'm the king of tag." Laxus said smugly, turning his head to look at Lucy.

"Well I told you, I'm the queen. I'll beat you one of these days." Lucy looked back at Laxus and did her signature wink and gave a thumbs up.

"Who knows, maybe one day you will Lulu."

Lucy then entwined her hand with Laxus'. "Look Lax, you see that cloud? It looks like a lion!"

"Mhmm." Laxus hummed in response once he spotted said cloud. "That one over there looks like a dragon." Laxus used his other hand to point out the dragon cloud.

"Oh cool! I see it too!" Lucy replied in excitement. They then went back and forth telling the other all the things they could see in the fluffy clouds on that beautiful spring day. After a while of silence just enjoying each other's company Lucy spoke.

"You know Lax, you're my best friend. You're the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for." She squeezed his hand that she still held in her smaller one.

Laxus stilled for a moment, a light blush forming on his cheeks. He sat up and looked down into a pair of the warmest most loving eyes he'd ever seen. Still holding onto her hand.

"You're my best friend too Lulu."

"Let's be best friends forever, ok?" Lucy now sat up cross legged in front of him.

"I'd like that."

"Okay well since we're best friends we should have a secret handshake, don't you think?"

"Sure ok." He quickly glanced around to make sure attention wasn't on them. Sure Lucy was his best friend and he'd do anything for her but he also didn't want to look like a sissy in front of the other boys in the guild. Specifically Bickslow, Freed and Elfman.

"Nothing fancy, just something special to the two of us." Lucy smiled. "How about this, lets hold hands and press our thumb and pinky fingers together like this. She demonstrated by taking his hand in hers and molding it to the desired shape. which looked like a 'hang ten' surfer sign. "See?"

Laxus just smiled and enjoyed the moment. "Yea, it's not as bad as I thought it would be."

Lucy let go of his hand and playfully smacked his arm. "Oh come on Lax, you think I'd make you do something silly?"

"Yea actually, I do." He smirked and ruffled her hair.

"Whatever." Lucy replied trying to make him stop but not succeeding.

"Lu-cy!" "Lucy dear!" Layla finally spotted her daughter near the tree with Laxus. "It's time to go sweetie."

"Aw mom! Do we have to? I'm having fun!" Lucy shouted in her mom's direction.

Layla walked up to the pair and smiled down at them both. "Yes, I'm afraid we do. Don't worry Laxus, we'll be back at the guild tomorrow." Layla smiled and reached her hand out to Lucy to help her up. Laxus stood up as well.

"Fine." Lucy sighed. "See you tomorrow Laxy!" She gave him a big hug then turned to head out of the park.

"Bye, Lulu. Bye Mrs. Heartfilia."

"Goodbye Laxus, see you tomorrow." and with that the mother daughter duo left the park and headed back home to the Heartfilia Konzern just outside of Magnolia.

Meanwhile Makarov Dreyar, guild master, and his son Ivan were standing by the food table. Ivan sulking as usual and Makarov was just happy watching his brats have fun. He was particularly interested in the interaction between his grandson and a young blonde celestial mage.

"Ivan, have you noticed how close your son and Lucy have been getting the last year? Looks like we have a budding romance in the air."

"They're just kids dad, and besides Laxus doesn't have time for such frivolity, especially with a girl so much weaker than himself."

"Come now Ivan, every mage in this guild, no matter how young or old, have a strength unique to themselves, it may not be physical but you can't discount the young girl's intelligence and wit."

"Hmmf. Physical strength is all that matters in my world. and all that will matter in Laxus' world."

Ivan walked away from his grandfather to collect his son and head for home.

Makarov frowned at his son's remarks and watched him as he interacted with Laxus. 'Where did he get this negativity and power trip from? Certainly not me I hope.'

The next day Jude and Layla stopped by the guild early to drop off Lucy, they knew she would be in good hands there for the few hours they'd be gone.

"Ok Lucy, you have fun with your friends here while mom and dad go to the doctor ok? I'll be back in a few hours." Layla gave her daughter a hug and Jude patted her on the shoulder before they left the guild.

"Okay, bye Mommy, bye Daddy, see you soon!" Lucy waved as they walked out of the guild.

Lucy looked around for any of her friends and spotted Cana at the bar eating breakfast. "Hiya Cana, how's it going?" Lucy asked as she hopped up onto the stool next to her friend.

"Pwetty gud." Cana stated with a mouth full of food. She took a drink of some orange juice to wash it down. "I mean, pretty good." Cana laughed and Lucy joined in. Soon Levy waltzed in and joined them as well. You could hear high pitched giggling all the way to Makarov's office on the 2nd floor.

Inside said office, Makarov was conversing with his son Ivan while Laxus was on the couch in the corner listening to his soundpod.

"Ivan, I don't think this is a wise idea. First of all you don't even know where to find a dragon, second, how do you know they have lacrima's inside their bodies, and third, how do you expect to get it out? What do you want with a dragon lacrima?"

"That's my business pops, and no one else's. I'm just letting you know this so you know not to call me for jobs. I'll be quite indisposed."

"Indisposed? More like left for dead in a dragon's lair!" Makarov looked to his grandson to see he had no idea what they were discussing. "I'm sorry son but I just can't approve this mission. I don't know what the purpose is and you are endangering yourself for selfish means. You have a child Ivan, and you are the only parent left for him. You would put yourself in danger and possibly get killed with no care whatsoever for the child you could leave behind?"

"That's where you're wrong dad. This mission is for him. It's all for him, and if I die trying to make it happen, then I'll at least know he'll have a better father figure in you then he did with me." Ivan snapped back crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Enough of this sentimental garbage. I'm heading out and I don't know when I'll be back." Ivan stood from his chair and went to Laxus' side. He removed one of the earbuds from his head and bent down to speak to him.

"Son, I'm going on a mission and I don't know when I'll be back. You'll stay with your gramps now. You got it?"

Laxus looked into his dad's eyes with confusion and anger. "You don't know when you'll be back? Are you just ditching me old man? What the hell?"

Ivan hit Laxus in the back of the head Jolting the boy forward on the couch. "Don't you talk to me like that boy. What a foul mouth. As I was saying, I'll be gone possibly for a few months. You'll live with your grandfather and that's final."

"Can I come with you dad?" Laxus asked with hope in his eyes. He was never allowed to go on missions with his dad before. Maybe now that he'd just turned 10, his father would change his mind.

"No, This is for me to do. Alone. But if I return, I will come to you right away."

Laxus frowned at his dad's response. it wasn't the one he was hoping for. So Laxus reacted the only way he knew how, anger. "Fine, leave! Maybe I don't want you to come back. You don't seem to care that much about me anyway!"

Makarov froze, mouth open staring at his grandson in disbelief. 'I can't believe he just said that to his own father.'

Ivan strode back over to Laxus and lifted him up by his shirt until they were eye to eye. "Never question me or my motives son. You have no idea what I'd do for you." He dropped Laxus like a rag doll, gave one nod to Makarov and stormed out of the office.

Laxus just sat there on the floor in a daze. His father was leaving once again, but this time he didn't know if or when he was returning. Ever since his mom passed away his dad just kept pushing himself further and further away. Laxus didn't even know who his dad was anymore.

Makarov hopped off of his chair and walked around his mahogany desk to where Laxus was sitting in the middle of his office. "You ok boy?" He put a hand on Laxus' shoulder.

Laxus shrugged his grandfather's hand away. "I'm fine Jiji, just fine." He got up and stormed out of Makarov's office much like his father had done just a moment ago. Makarov just sighed and went back behind his desk. Letting Laxus have some time to cool off before he tried talking to him.

Laxus ran down the hallway to the stairs and saw Lucy sitting at the bar with Cana and Levy just as happy as always. He dashed down the stairs and stood right behind her. "Lulu."

Lucy was startled and turned around to see her best friend. "Oh hey Lax, what's up?"

Without another word Laxus grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the guild hall.

"Bye guys! Guess I'm hanging out with Laxus now!" Lucy called to Cana and Levy. Laxus didn't stop until he came to a large tree outside by the training area. It was only then that he let go of Lucy's wrist.

"Geez Laxy! What was that for?" Lucy yelled grabbing her wrist.

"Sorry, I just wanted to be alone, and to talk to you, but not around everyone else." Laxus said shuffling his feet.

"Well you could've just asked silly! You know I'll always have time for you." She smiled warmly at him.

"Yea, well, guess I wasn't thinking." Laxus sat down at the base of the tree, leaning against its wide trunk.

"That's ok. So what's got you all worked up?" Lucy sat down beside him and held his hand.

"My dad left again, and this time he doesn't know if he'll be back or not. If he does come back it might not be for a few months. He's never gone on a job that takes this long before, and he's never said he might not come back." Laxus' Anger was turning into sadness.

Lucy looked into his icy blue eyes the color of glacial waters and saw hurt, and a lot of it. She took both of his hands into hers and did their secret handshake as she talked to him.

"Don't worry Laxy, he'll come back, I know he will. He's a strong wizard and he'll get his job done and come back to you. I just know he will."

Laxus' saw the sincerity and genuine affection for him in her warm chocolate hued eyes and let a single tear escape his own. Lucy let go of his hand and brought it up to cup his face and brushed the tear away with her thumb.

'Her skin is so soft.' Laxus thought as he leaned into her touch.

"It's okay Lax, it's okay. You're not alone, remember that. You have your grandfather, the guild, and especially me! And now since your dad will be away you can spend more time at the guild here with me!"

Laxus looked up and into her eyes and again saw nothing but hope and joy. "I suppose I will huh Lulu."

"Of course and we're going to have so much fun!" The wheels were turning in Lucy's head about all the fun adventures they could have.

"Yea, we will." Laxus' mood was already improving. How was it that whenever he was around Lucy any gray clouds that were hanging over his head just vanished. He just didn't get it. But he liked it. It felt like home.

Speaking of home, he noticed that Layla wasn't in the guild when he grabbed Lucy from the bar.

"Hey Lulu, where's your mom at? I thought she was here at the guild with you?"

At that comment he saw some of the light leave her eyes. Not a lot but it was noticeable to him.

"Dad took her to the doctor in crocus today. She hasn't been feeling well lately. They'll come and pick me up later today." Her expression turned to one of sadness for a fleeting moment before it was replaced with her usual aura of light.

"Oh, well I hope she gets better soon." Laxus was never very good with comforting others. He had a hard time expressing his emotions, well except for anger, he knew how to be angry.

"I'm sure she will. She always pulls through!" Lucy smiled. "So what do you want to do? Play a game or something?"

"Sure, Hey I know, let's put together a game of dodgeball."

"Yea, let's do it!" Lucy agreed. They both headed inside to recruit their friends for their teams.


	2. The News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laxus and Lucy start out as children growing up in Fairy Tail until certain events send both their lives in different directions. This is a story of a friendship that stands the test of time and becomes something much much more. Slightly A/U and will somewhat follow the anime but with some changes.

Chapter 2: The News

So the teams were set. It was boys against girls and magic was allowed. On the girls team was: Lucy, Levy, Cana, Erza Mira and Evergreen. On the boys team were: Laxus, Freed, Bickslow, Jet and Droy and Elfman. Lisanna volunteered to be referee to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

"Okay, the game is kickball. whichever team gets to 15 points first wins. Magic is allowed but if I feel it's going overboard the individual will get a foul and have to sit out for a few turns. Any questions?"

…..

"Ok good. Play ball!" Lisanna blew in her whistle to signal the start of the game.

The boys were up first and the girls were in the 'outfield'. That being determined by some boulders elfman found and hauled onto the training grounds in the shape of a diamond.

Bickslow was up first to kick and Erza was on the 'pitcher's mound'. She rolled the ball and Bickslow kicked it sky high. The girls all looked up into the sky to try and find where it would fall. Mira went satan soul and flew up to get a better look. "Lucy it's heading towards you!" Mira shouted. "Okay thanks!" Lucy took out her key for Aquarius and looked around for a water source, finally seeing someone's water bottle. She ran over to it and stuck the key in it saying, "I call on thee, open thy gate, Aquarius!" one poof later and Aquarius was standing in front of Lucy with a dark expression on her face. "Did you just summon me from a water bottle. hmm?"

"Yea, sorry about that but I need you to catch that kickball, it's going to hit the ground any second and Bickslow is already at second base. Please?"

"You have got to be kidding me. You called me out of a date for this?" Aquarius took her water vessel and called a huge wave to knock all the players off their feet. The kickball landed in a puddle and Bickslow was somehow floated to third base and then to home.

"Yea 1 point for the boys! That's a man!" Elfman shouted

"Darn it! I should've know better than to call out aquarius. Sorry girls." Lucy apologized to her teammates.

"It's alright Lucy, it's just one point. We'll beat them, don't you worry." Levy said comfortingly.

45 minutes later and the score was tied 14-14. Cana was up to kick. The tension in the air was palpable. Right after Freed threw the ball a voice was heard near the guild.

"Lu-cy, Lucy dear!" "We're back!"

The ball rolled to Cana who kicked it and scrambled for first base while Evergreen who was on third base, dove for home. Lucy looked over to see who called her name and saw her parents walking up to the training grounds.

In the outfield Laxus was just distracted seeing Lucy's parents and hoping her mom was okay. Not even noticing the kickball that flew right past him.

"Damn it Laxus go get the ball. We don't want to lose here!" Bickslow yelled.

Before he could realize what was happening, Jet had sped past him, picked up the ball and threw it to Droy and at least got Cana out, by that time Evergreen had already crossed 'home plate'.

The girls were all cheering for their win and the boys were all sulking.

Layla walked up to her daughter and gave her a hug. 'Mom looks really tired' Lucy thought.

"Hi sweetie, it looks like you're having fun. Are you ready to go home for the day?"

"Yea, the girls just beat the boys in kickball! I don't really want to go home yet though."

"Well your dad and I would like to discuss some things with you so we really need you to come home with us okay?"

"O-oh, okay. Can I say goodbye quick?"

"Sure, but don't take too long."

Lucy walked over to her team and said her goodbyes and celebrated with them. Then she walked over to Laxus and gave him a hug. "Good game Laxy, I've got to go but I'll see you later ok?"

Laxus blushed as she had just hugged him in front of all his guy friends who were currently snickering. "You to Lulu, see ya later." He hugged her back quickly and waved goodbye then went back to his team to commiserate.

"Laxy huh?" Bickslow teased.

"Shut-up Bix." Laxus retorted.

Bickslow just laughed and headed back to the guild hall with the other boys. Laxus watched as Lucy and her parents left and had a gut feeling that something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Lucy got out of the car with her parents walking ahead of her. they came to the door and the maid Sepetto greeted them. "Welcome home Mr. and Mrs. Heartfilia. Welcome home miss lucy."

"Sepetto!" Lucy squealed and ran up to her giving her a hug. "I missed you today!"

"I missed you too child." Sepetto said stroking Lucy's head.

"Sepetto, please prepare some tea for us in the drawing room if you would?"

"Right away Mrs. Heartfilia."

"Layla is fine Sepetto, how long have you worked here? We're like family you know." Layla smiled warmly.

"Of course Mrs..I mean Layla, I'll have your tea ready shortly."

"Come on sweetie, let's go to the drawing room, we'd like to have a talk with you." Layla began guiding her daughter in the direction of the drawing room.

The Heartfilia Konzern was really like a small village. The mansion itself housed 80 bedrooms, 70 bathrooms and an indoor pool and greenhouse, not to mention all the servants quarters that surrounded the luscious manor.

"Okay mom, is everything alright?" Lucy asked with concern lacing her voice.

"I'm sure it will be sweetheart." Layla responded not able to look Lucy in the eyes.

They came to the drawing room and Jude and Layla took a seat opposite Lucy on the luxurious sofas in front of an inviting hearth.

"Lucy, we learned some concerning things at the doctor's office today." Jude stated with a crestfallen look on his face.

"You did? But mom, you said everything's alright!"

"Lucy honey, the doctor said I'm sick and.."

"So you can take medicine and get better can't you? You went to the best doctors in Fiore!" Lucy wailed starting to get upset.

"It's not something that can be cured with medicine. It has to do with my magic. My magic containers to be exact. I don't know how I got it and the doctors don't know how to cure it."

"So you're just going to get sicker and sicker?"

"Yes, they told me I've got about 6 months left to live honey."

"NO! This can't be happening! Dad can't we find some doctors that work with mages?"

"The doctors we went to today specialize in caring for mages Lucy, there's nothing they can do. They've never seen anything like what's happening to your mother."

"Momma!" Lucy ran over to her mother and hugged her as hard as she could. The tears were freely flowing between the three of them as they all held each other. No one got any sleep that night.

No one had seen the Heartfilia women in the guild for several days. Laxus was on the edge of his seat every time the guild doors opened, thinking it was his Lulu. On this particular day Laxus was again sitting at his favorite table with Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen, waiting with baited breath every time the guild doors opened, and when they opened next, they revealed a pair of blonde beauties, one being Layla, the other being Lucy. But they didn't look like their vibrant selves. Layla looked ashen and had bags under her eyes. Lucy wasn't smiling. Layla said something to her daughter then started walking up the stairs to master Makarov's office. Laxus seeing that as his cue, rushed to the blondes side, not caring who saw this uncharacteristic show of affection.

"Lulu, where have you been? Are you alright?" He held onto her shoulders, trying to get her to look him the eyes.

Lucy just shook her head no and kept looking at the ground. "Okay, we'll go to the tree out back and we can talk." He started to guide Lucy out of the guild when he noticed all activity within the hall had stilled.

"What're you all looking at?" He growled, protective of the sullen little mage in his arms. After seeing the fierce look on the boys face, everyone went back to what they were doing.

As they were walking back to the training grounds to 'their tree', Lucy took Laxus' hand in hers and lightly leaned against him. They came to the big oak tree and sat down in front of it still holding hands.

"Are you going to look at me and tell me what's wrong? Please Lulu, I can't stand to see you like this."

He almost wished he hadn't asked her to look at him, because when she did instead of the warm loving chocolate orbs he was used to, he saw dull faded ones full of sorrow and despair.

"Oh Lulu, is it that bad?" She nodded her head and leaned against him burying her head in the crook of his neck and began to cry.

He wrapped both arms around her and held her. He just held her for what felt like an eternity. "It's going to be alright Lu, I'm here and I'll always be here, for you."

He took one of her hands and did their secret handshake. When Lucy felt his hand entwined with hers in that familiar position, she looked up into his eyes once more. Those clear blue eyes the color of glacial waters were smiling back down at her with kindness and concern.

"Laxy, my mom, s-she's really sick a-and she.." Lucy began crying once more.

"Shh, calm down Lu, what's wrong with your mom?" Laxus spoke quietly while moving a piece of hair away from her face.

"Laxy, s-she's gonna die! The doctors said there's nothing they can do for her! I'm going to lose my mom Lax!"

Laxus' eyes were wide as he continued consoling the blonde in his arms. He had no idea what to say. Sure his mom passed away too, but he was so young he didn't remember much of it.

So he did the only thing he knew he wouldn't screw up. He continued to hold her while drying the tears from her face. Eventually Lucy's tears turned into quiet sniffles and she settled down. She looked into Laxus' eyes once more with a frightened look to them.

"What am I going to do? I can't help her. I feel so helpless and alone. My dad isn't very good at helping me with being sad. My mom always does that. What will happen when she's gone?"

"I'll be here for you Lu, no matter what. That's what best friends do. I'll be here to make you happy again when you're sad. You're not alone, you'll never be alone Lulu.

"Thanks Laxy, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well you won't have to find out." Right then Laxus made a promise to himself, to always protect and care for his best friend, no matter what.

"Come on, let's go back inside and get something to eat." Laxus stood up and offered his hand to Lucy. She rubbed the remaining tears from her eyes and took his hand to stand up.

"I'd like that, thanks." They walked hand in hand back into the guild and up to the bar. "Jo Jo, can I get a hamburger with fries and a strawberry milkshake for Lucy here? I'll have the same but with a pop instead."

"Sure thing Laxus, coming right up." Jo Jo the barkeep said as he went back to the kitchen to prepare the orders.

Up in Makarov's office Layla was sitting in the armchair in front of his desk, a few tears escaping her beautiful brown eyes. Makarov wasn't much better. He too had a stray tear track still on his face. Layla had just given him the news and he was absolutely devastated. The light of fairy tail was going out.

"Please master, don't mention this to anyone until it's absolutely necessary. I don't want any pity for Lucy or myself. I'd like the both of us to live as normal a life as we can for as long as we can." Layla sighed just thinking about Lucy. She would need to update her will soon.

"Layla, what is said in this room stays in this room unless I say otherwise, and I say what we just talked about should stay in this room, for now at least. How is Lucy handling all of this?"

"Not well, I'm afraid. She hasn't gone a day since she found out without crying."

"Whenever she's here we'll do all we can to keep her smiling Layla. You can count on that. Fairy tail is a family and we do everything we can for our brothers and sisters."

"Thank you, that means the world to me. Jude has just been so withdrawn lately, It's hard for him to be a support to anyone, even me."

"Well like I said, this is just as much your home as the Heartfilia Konzern. You will have all the support you could ever need here."

Layla walked up to him and knelt down to hug him. "I don't know what I would do without Fairy tail right now."

"Well lucky for you, you don't have to find out." Makarov said, trying to lighten up the somber mood.

Layla smiled and stood up to leave his office. "I'm going to head down to the hall and see what little Lucy is up to."

"Alright Layla, goodbye for now."

Layla nodded and closed the door behind her. She started walking down the stairs when she heard the familiar sound of her daughter's laughter. She looked over to the bar and saw Lucy and Laxus chatting away and giggling. 'Amazing. just a half an hour ago she was a shell of her old self and there she is the light of the room again.' She smiled and sat beside her daughter at the bar. "Hello honey, having a good time?"

Lucy turned with a huge smile on her face to see her mom. Her smile faded somewhat but was still there. "Yes momma, Laxy and I are eating lunch!"

"Oh and where did you get the jewels for this lunch missy?" Layla always like to playfully tease with her daughter. Even though they were extremely wealthy, Layla always wanted to instill a good and honest work ethic into her daughter.

"Laxy bought me lunch today mom, he's the best!"

"Thank you for doing that Laxus, it was very kind of you." Layla looked down the bar towards Laxus who blushed a little at the compliment.

"No problem, it was nothing." He looked away to hide his pink cheeks only to look straight into the eyes of Freed and Bickslow who heard the conversation and were laughing up a storm at the lightning mages expense, receiving a heated glare from said boy sitting at the bar.

"I'm getting pretty tired honey, we should probably get going."

The smile on Lucy's face diminished some more. "I understand. Bye Lax, thanks for everything. You're a great friend." They did their secret handshake.

"Anytime Lulu."

With that, mother and daughter walked out of the guild and back to the Konzern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I ended this on a not so sad note. This has to happen for my story to pan out the way I want it to. Reviews are encouraged!


	3. Life As We Know It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laxus and Lucy start out as children growing up in Fairy Tail until certain events send both their lives in different directions. This is a story of a friendship that stands the test of time and becomes something much much more. Slightly A/U and will somewhat follow the anime but with some changes.

The Bond We Share

Chapter 3: Life as we know it

Months had passed since Lucy's mother's diagnosis and everything at the guild was as it normally was. Except for the usual presence of it's light Layla. She had been confined to bed rest in October, being told she didn't have much time left. It was now December and she was still in the land of the living, but for how long no one knew. She was defying the odds.

It was Christmas time and a few days before Christmas eve. Lucy was bothering her father for days to let her go to the guild Christmas party. She had gotten a present for Laxus she couldn't wait to give him.

"Poppa please! I really want to go. It's only for the day, pretty please?" Lucy practically whined. They were in her parents bedroom and Lucy was sitting by her mother's bed who was reading a book and yawning occasionally.

"Just let her go Jude, she hasn't been able to spend a lot of time there since I went on bed rest." She coughed a bit then put her book down.

Jude just sighed and sat at the edge of his wife's bed. If he had his way, Layla would've left the guild when they got married. He wasn't too fond of having to share his wife or his daughter with a mages guild.

He looked towards Lucy to see her expectant face looking back, waiting for his response. He could always have Sepetto drop her off and pick her up, that way he wouldn't lose any valuable time he could otherwise spend on his latest business deal.

"Fine, I'll have Sepetto drop you off at the guild tomorrow. But you will be back home by 7pm, we'll be having Christmas dinner at 8pm." Jude said firmly.

"Yes poppa, I understand. Thank you so much!" Lucy jumped up from her chair beside her mother and gave her father the biggest hug she could muster.

"I have to go wrap Laxy's gift!" She said excitedly as she left the room.

Jude took the vacant seat next to his wife's bed and held her hand in his. "It's bad enough she wants to spend all her time at the guild, but now all she talks about is that boy." He shook his head and looked out the window.

"Sweetheart, Laxus is her best friend. The only friends she has are at that guild. It's hard for a child to form meaningful relationships as it is. It's even more difficult when they have magic. Let her enjoy herself. Fairy Tail is a second home to her."

"She shouldn't need a second home Layla, and neither should you. I'm your home, I always have been." Jude said curtly

"I know, Jude. You are my home, but so is Fairy Tail. I grew up there and I want Lucy to experience the same. It's important she has a place where she can develop and nurture her magic in a safe environment. I can't think of any place better than Fairy Tail."

Jude just huffed and continued to look out the window. Layla saw the look of jealousy in her husband's eyes. Yes he was always very stubborn when it came to how much time the women in his life spent at the guild, but it was getting worse since she got sick. She could only hope that Jude would continue to let Lucy be a part of the guild when she was gone.

The preparations for the Christmas Eve party at Fairy Tail were well underway and the guild hall was buzzing with excitement. Everyone was doing their part to make the guild look it's best.

Laxus meanwhile went into town to shop for Lucy's present. He hadn't ever gotten her a Christmas gift but he felt this year was time for that to change. He was walking down market street when something caught his eye in a window display. it was a gold necklace with a star pendant. Laxus knew it would be perfect for Lucy. He quickly walked into the shop, purchased it and was on his way back to the guild to help get everything ready. He really missed Lucy, he didn't see her nearly as often as he'd like. He wanted to go to the Konzern a few times but his grandfather forbade him from doing so saying that the Heartfilia family needed the time together, considering the circumstances Laxus agreed, but he wasn't happy about it.

Laxus walked into the guild and found an isolated table away from prying eyes. He took out the necklace he bought for Lucy and eyed it carefully. It really was perfect for her but something was missing. A light bulb went off in his head and he channeled some of his lightning into his finger and engraved a lightning bolt into the middle of the star and then wrote La on one side and Lu on the other. "That's better." He smiled at his own handiwork.

The day of the Christmas party arrived and Lucy skipped through the guild doors at one in the afternoon to a chorus of cheers. "Welcome back Lucy." "We've missed you!" Lucy went around the hall greeting all her friends, as a certain lightning mage eyed her from the second floor. She looked as radiant as ever. Laxus didn't even bother using the stairs and jumped over the railing, landing expertly on his feet with a loud thud. Lucy looked for the source of the noise and saw Laxus walking towards her with a smirk on his face.

"Laxy!" Lucy ran over to him and hugged him tightly. Laxus returned the hug with a blush slightly dusting his cheeks.

"Hi Lulu, haven't seen you in a while."

"Sorry about that, my dad's being mean and not letting me come here much anymore. but I talked him into letting me come for Christmas, I wouldn't miss it." Lucy beamed at him.

"Glad to hear it. Come on, I want to give you something." He took Lucy by the hand and led her towards the guild doors.

"Why can't you give it to me here?" Lucy asked.

"Well, you see I-I...just follow me ok?" Laxus stuttered, not sure why he couldn't bring himself to give her, her gift in the guild.

"Oh, ok, sure." Lucy replied a confused look on her face.

They both trudged through the newly fallen snow out to the familiar oak tree by the training grounds. Laxus throwing the occasional snowball at Lucy and her trying to dodge them but not succeeding.

Once they reached the tree they were both panting from running and the snowball fight which Laxus claimed victory over.

"So what it is you wanted to give me?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, yea, well I kind of g-got you something." Laxus took the small package wrapped in brown paper, tied with red twine out of his pocket and handed it to Lucy. Her eyes lit up at the sight.

"Wow, thank you Laxy!" Lucy eyed the package and returned her gaze to him.

"Well aren't you going to open it?"

"Of course! But first, I kind of got something for you too." Lucy dug into her coat pocket and pulled out a red and green box and handed it to him then began opening her own gift.

Laxus eyed the box in his hands then drew his attention to the petite blonde with a look of joy in her eyes as she untied the twine and ripped open the packaging. She opened the little box and her eyes widened in surprise as she pulled out the star pendant necklace, admiring the details on the star.

"Oh Laxy it's beautiful! Did you make this?"

"I did the engraving." Laxus shuffled his feet in the snow.

"I love it! Would you help me put in on?" Lucy undid the top few buttons of her coat and handed him the necklace and turned around.

"S-Sure." Laxus replied, moving her hair out of the way so he could fasten it around her neck. 'Her hair smells so good.' He thought to himself.

Lucy turned around and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, blushing a little as she did so. "It's perfect Lax, I'm never going to take it off!"

Laxus smiled sheepishly at her. "Glad you like it." he rubbed the back of his head in nervousness.

"Well are you going to open yours now?"

"O-Oh, yea." Laxus dug into his pocket to grab the present he placed there when he was helping Lucy with the necklace. "You didn't need to get me anything ya know."

"You didn't need to get me anything either. But you did. We're best friends now, and I wanted to." Lucy did her signature wink and thumbs up.

"Well guess I should open it then huh?" Laxus began tearing the paper away to reveal a black and gold box. He lifted the cover and saw a brand new sound pod, black and gold with lightning bolts on it, and big headphones with one big spike coming out of each ear.

"I saw this and thought of you, I know how you like to listen to your music all the time." Lucy smiled warmly at him.

"Wow, thanks! My other pod was getting real beat up." Laxus looked up at her with affection and gratitude.

"Sure thing! Merry Christmas Laxy." Lucy suddenly hugged him.

"Merry Christmas Lulu." Laxus returned the embrace whole heartedly.

Lucy left the hug and began circling the big oak tree, looking up into it's majestic branches.

"You know, we've been coming to this tree a lot lately."

"Yea, I guess we have." Laxus replied, not really knowing where she was going with this train of thought.

"So, I was thinking. Maybe we should mark it! You know so everyone knows it's our tree?" Lucy looked to him with mirth in her eyes.

"How so?"

"Oh, I dunno." Lucy paused in thought for a moment then looked to her star pendant. "That's it! Let's carve a star with a lightning bolt in it!" "Can you use your lightning to do it?" Lucy looked to him with hope in her eyes.

"Uh, sure I guess." Laxus began channeling some magic into his hand. "Stand back Lulu." She did as she was asked and went to stand behind him. Laxus' magic poured out through his hand and he used the electricity to carve a perfect star with a lightning bolt in the middle. Once the smoke cleared he eyed the finished product.

"There, how's that?" Laxus asked looking to Lucy for approval.

"Hmm. there's still something missing." Lucy pondered. She looked to her pendant again and realized what it was.

"Can you make it just like my pendant with La on one side and Lu on the other?"

"Um, yea ok." Laxus again channeled his magic and put the initials on either side of the lightning bolt inside the star.

"Perfect!" Lucy squealed.

Laxus stepped back and inspected it. She was right, it was perfect.

"This is the best Christmas ever!" Lucy sang while locking arms with Laxus admiring the now marked tree.

"Yea, you're right. It is Lulu." Laxus sighed. "Wanna head back inside? It's getting kind of cold."

"Okay sounds good to me." Lucy replied and they trudged through the snow back to the guild hall.

The entire time Master Makarov was watching the interaction from his office window with a huge smile on his face. "Those two have something very special." He mused.

The rest of the day went splendidly. Lucy and Laxus enjoyed each other's company, catching up on what's been going on since they last saw each other. There was food and dancing and merriment for all.

At 6:30pm the guild hall doors opened to reveal a stout woman with orange curly hair making her way into the guild. Lucy saw her and waved. Sepetto walked up to her and gave her a hug.

"Hello miss Lucy, are you having fun?"

"Oh yes Sepetto, it's been a blast!"

"Good, glad to hear it. But now we must head home. Your father has requested your presence for Christmas dinner."

"Aw, already?" Lucy whined.

"Yes miss, it's thirty minutes to 7pm. We must hurry if we're to make it in time for dinner to start."

"Oh ok. Bye Lax, I'll talk to you later ok?" She did their secret handshake.

"Ok, see you later Lulu."

Lucy made the rounds quickly saying goodbye to everyone. Before she walked out the doors she yelled out "Merry Christmas Fairy Tail!" and was graced with a resounding response of "Merry Christmas Lucy!" Mugs of ale in the air in cheers. With that Lucy waved and walked out of the doors with Sepetto.

The Holiday season came and went. And with it went Layla's health. She ended up passing away a week after New Years. Lucy was absolutely devastated. As was her father but instead of grieving together, he just shut himself up in his office. Lucy's only source of comfort was Sepetto.

The day came for the reading of Layla's will. Lucy, Jude, and Master Makarov were sitting in Jude's office at the Konzern, waiting for the attorney to arrive. Not five minutes later, a lanky man with his tie not quite tied straight and slightly disheveled hair waltzed through the office and joined the three others at Jude's desk.

"Greetings, I apologize for my tardiness. My name is Mr. Krenz and I am the attorney in charge of delivering Mrs. Layla Heartfilia's last will and testament." He set a briefcase that almost didn't close on top of Jude's desk and took a seat behind it in Jude's chair, which he wasn't all that happy about.

"Now to get down to business. There are only a few things that Layla left behind and they are actually for miss Lucy here."

Lucy's eyes lit up a little at that. 'I wonder what momma left for me.'

"The items in question are celestial keys. Five of them to be exact. Layla specifies that Lucy shall receive four of these keys immediately and the fifth will be held by Master Makarov until Lucy's 18th birthday."

Mr. Krenz then pulled out a blue velvet bag from his overstuffed briefcase and took one key out, handing it to Master Makarov, and the other three to Lucy.

"Oh wow, four new keys!" lucy eyed the keys carefully, wondering what spirits they were. Jude meanwhile just huffed and crossed his arms. He wasn't aware that Layla was giving Lucy her keys. This was just one more thing Jude was going to have to struggle with.

Mr. Krenz then went back to his paperwork, read something and looked to the three sitting before him. "Layla also requests that Lucy continue her development as a mage at Fairy Tail under Master Makarov's supervision."

both Jude and Lucy's eye's went wide. For different reasons of course. For Lucy she was excited because it meant she could still go to the guild and learn how to be a mage and be with her friends. Jude because he didn't think Layla would go so far as to put this into her will. Now that Layla had passed, Jude had fully planned on banning Lucy from ever setting foot in Fairy Tail again. He didn't want to lose the only family he had left.

Makarov eyed Jude throughout the reading of the will. He was aware of Jude's distaste for his guild and had a gut feeling that there would be some butting of heads over lucy's mage education.

Krenz continued. "Lucy shall spend three days a week at Fairy Tail studying and developing her magic."

The wheels in Jude's head were turning. He had to find someway to get around the will.

After Mr. Krenz finished reading the will he took out two letters, one for Lucy and one for Jude.

"Lucy, this letter explains how to make a contract with your new spirits. And Jude this letter is for you. I was instructed not to open it." He handed both of them the letters and excused himself from the room. Master Makarov looked at the key in his hand and wondered why Layla would entrust it to him.

"Well, Lucy dear I look forward to seeing you at the guild. I'll take my leave now." Makarov stood up to leave and bid his goodbyes to Jude and left the office and the Konzern, heading for Fairy Tail.

Lucy gave her dad a hug and skipped out of his office. Still very much devastated by the loss of her mother, but her spirits were lifted with the prospect of meeting some new spirit friends.

Jude meanwhile sat in his chair and called Sepetto into his office. A moment later Sepetto knocked on the door and stepped inside.

"Sepetto, please contact Mr. Krenz's office. Please let them know that when Mr. Krenz arrives that he should contact me. Immediately." Jude spoke with distaste in his voice.

"Y-Yes, sir. I'll contact his office right away." Sepetto replied and rushed out of the office.

Meanwhile Lucy was in her room reading the letter her mother had written to her:

My Darling Lucy,

If you are reading this then that means I am no longer with you. But take heart my dear one! The keys I have left in your care were my spirits. You will never be without me as long as they are with you. I love you so much my daughter and my hope is that you will become an accomplished celestial mage. Here are the steps for summoning and contracting any celestial spirit. Since I aided you in contracting Aquarius I thought you'd like to have the steps written out.

Take the key into your hand and hold it out in front of you.

Channel your magic into the key

Say "Spirit of the celestial realm I call on thee, open thy gate [spirit name]

Introduce yourself

You will need to form a contract with them. Just ask each spirit once they are summoned "Would you like to form a contract with me?" They will then tell you when they are available and when they aren't and what their abilities are.

The spirits that are now entrusted to you are:

Taurus the bull

Virgo the maid

Cancer the crab

Capricorn the Ram

They will become a part of your family, just like they became a part of mine. Do not be sad Lucy, even though I am not with you physically, I will always be with in your heart.

Love,

Your Mother.

Lucy shed a few tears as she read the letter. She set it down and held up the three new keys in her hand. She was excited to get to know this spirits and add them to her family. She was sure Aquarius would be happy to have some new spirit friends.

Meanwhile in his office, Jude opened the letter addressed to him by his late wife.

My Darling Jude,

If you are reading this then I am no longer on this earth. Please my love, do not fret for I will always be with you in spirit. I love you like no other Jude and I am saddened to not be able to see Lucy grow up and to grow old with you. I'm sure by now that you have read my will. Before you get upset please hear me out. I incorporated Lucy's mage education because I feel it is of the utmost importance. As a person with magic, Lucy will need to learn how to control it and use it for good. Fairy Tail did that for me so I would like them to do that for her as well. I understand your hesitance in this matter my love but please know that Lucy will never leave you. You are her home. I humbly ask that you keep my request.

All my love,

Your Layla

Jude just stared at the letter. Layla knew him better than he knew himself sometimes. Unfortunately this was one request he was not planning on keeping. 'She won't know now if I let her go to Fairy Tail or not' he thought.

Just then he got a phone call. It was Mr. Krenz.

"Ah, Mr. Krenz. Thank you for contacting me on such short notice."

"Of course Mr. Heartfilia. What is it that you would like to discuss?"

"I need to know if there is a legal way to change my wife's will."

"Why would you want to change it?"

"That is of no consequence. Is there a way?"

"Well as the executor of the will I would not be the one to talk to in this matter. It is my responsibility to ensure that Mrs. Heartfilia's will is upheld in it's entirety."

"...I see. Well you will be hearing from my legal team then. Goodday Mr. Krenz." Jude didn't wait for a response and just hung up the phone. He would have to do some digging on this. He went through his contacts list and pulled up the phone numbers of his legal advisors and attorneys.


	4. I'll Write You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N-I changed it so Lucy received four keys instead of three. I'm adding Capricorn. She will still get a key on her 18th birthday. I updated the last chapter to reflect this. So hopefully there won't be any confusion. :) Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! This story is so fun to write! ~Pamgie

Lucy was so glad that she would be able to still go to the guild. It wouldn't be the same without her mother there but at least she had the rest of her guild mates to help get her through this. Her Father literally hadn't spoken to her since the reading of her mother's will and that was a week and a half ago. She tried going to his office once and knocked on the door but he never responded. He put Sepetto in charge of making sure Lucy got to the guild three days out of the week. Lucy saw him at the dinner table but not a word was spoken. She was so confused. Why was her dad acting this way? Was it something she did or said?

The next day She was riding in her father's company car on the way to the guild. Sepetto in the drivers seat. "Is papa mad at me Sepetto?" Lucy asked.

Sepetto quickly glanced over to the girl and saw she was looking quite down trodden. "Oh no dear, he's not upset at you. H-He's...just very busy with a business deal right now and hasn't had much time to think of anything else."

Sepetto hated keeping things from Lucy, she was like her own daughter. But at the same time Sepetto herself didn't even know all the facts, except that Jude was in frequent contact with several attorneys and legal advisors and it had to do with Layla's will. She only hoped that whatever was going on, that it wouldn't involve Lucy.

They arrived at the guild and Lucy hopped out of the car. "Okay dear, I'll come to retrieve you for dinner at 5pm. Please make sure you are ready to go by then." Sepetto smiled at Lucy.

"Sure thing Sepetto, bye!"

"Goodbye dear." Sepetto replied.

Lucy strolled through the guild doors and spotted Levy reading a book next to Jet and Droy. She sidled up to the script mage. "Hey Levy, what's new?"

"Oh hi Lu-chan! I'm reading a new book I just got. It's very good. It's one of those 'who dunnit' types." Levy replied smiling at her friend.

"Ooh, sounds interesting!" Lucy said. "What are you guys up to?" Referring to Jet and Droy. They had a deck of cards on the table with cards in their hands.

No one spoke for a while until Jet took a handful of peanuts from a pile in front of him and said. "I'll raise you 10 peanuts."

"Come on Jet, you know that's all I have left!" Droy whined. "Well if you have a good hand then what's the problem?"

"Fine." Droy conceded, shoving the remainder of his peanuts in the middle.

Jet finally looked up and realized Lucy had just asked him a question. "We're playing poker. We gotta train if we want to join the tournament next week."

"Isn't that tournament for the adult mages?" Lucy asked.

"Well, yea it is. But once they see how good we are then they'll let us sit in. That's what Macao and Wakaba said." Droy chimed in.

"Oh, well good luck then!" Lucy said. "I'm heading over to the bar, you want anything Levy-chan?"

Levy just shook her head, her nose deep in her mystery novel.

"Okay then, see you around!" Lucy hugged the little script mage then headed to the bar. She hopped up onto a stool and ordered some pancakes for breakfast, finally noticing the Master sitting on top of the bar, his little legs barely hanging over the edge.

"Lucy my child, how are we doing this morning."

"I'm doing pretty good master. Papa still won't talk to me but as long as I have Sepetto and my guild then I'm happy." Lucy replied.

"I see. Well don't fret Lucy, I'm sure Jude has a reason for his actions. Speaking of action, we should continue your offensive and defensive training today. Say around 11am? You can meet me at the training grounds out back."

"Okay, sounds good Master. Thanks! I enjoy our training sessions."

"As do I child. I'll see you in an hour."

"Okay." Lucy replied. Just as she said goodbye to the Master her pancakes arrived fresh off the griddle, with a side of fruit and a glass of oj.

Lucy began to dig in. Not noticing someone else settling into the stool beside her.

"Boo." Laxus said into her ear as Lucy jumped and almost fell off of her stool. Laxus caught her as she was about to fall back.

"Don't do that Laxy! I had orange juice in my mouth." Lucy said after she made sure her juice didn't come out of her nose.

Laxus just laughed and grabbed a piece of melon off of her plate. "You gotta be more aware of your surroundings Lulu."

"Yea, yea. And stop eating my food! Get your own." Lucy chided, though she wasn't that upset.

Laxus smiled at her, his mouth full of melon. Lucy just rolled her eyes and went back to eating.

"What's your plan today Lu?" Laxus asked as he ordered bacon and eggs for himself.

"I'm training with Master today." Lucy replied after swallowing a piece of pancake.

"Really? Can I train with you too?"

"Maybe? I dunno, I guess if Master says it's okay." Lucy replied.

"I'm sure Jiji will let me." Laxus said, confident of his ins with his grandfather.

"Well I start in a half hour at the training grounds out back."

"Ok sounds good."

They chatted for a while, eating their breakfasts and before they knew it, it was 11am. So they walked out back to the training grounds to see Master Makarov sitting cross legged in the middle of it. He opened one of his eyes when he sensed people approaching.

"Ah, Lucy. Right on time. And Laxus, what can I do for you my boy? Makarov spoke.

"Well gramps, I was wondering if maybe I could train with you and Lucy?"

"Hmm, well we don't want Lucy being distracted. So how about this. For the first hour I'll have Lucy work by herself with one of her spirits and then the second hour the two of you can spar."

"Sounds good to me Jiji." Laxus took a seat on the sidelines and got comfortable.

"All right Lucy, I want you to call out your bull spirit."

"Okay." Lucy grabbed Taurus' key from her brand new key ring. "Celestial spirit I call on thee, open thy gate-Taurus!" She held the key out and soon there was a giant bull in a loincloth holding a battle axe in front of her.

"Miss Luuccy! I will protect youuuuu." Taurus mooed.

"I don't need protection right now Taurus, I was wondering if you'd train with me today."

"Of course it would be my honor miss Lucy!" Taurus bowed to her.

"Y-you don't need to call me miss Lucy, plain old Lucy is fine."

"Okay, it would be an honor to train with you..Lucy."

Lucy smiled warmly at her spirit then looked to Master Makarov.

"Today, I'd like you to start with some defensive moves. You will need to know how to defend yourself while out on a job in case of attack."Makarov stated.

"Taurus, I'd like you to try and attack Lucy here. Not for real of course but enough that it will make her have to defend herself. I'll be right beside her guiding her movement." Makarov took his place on Lucy's right side.

Taurus looked nervously at Lucy and then at Makarov. "It's okay Taurus. How else am I going to get stronger? I trust you!" Lucy encouraged her spirit. Taurus still seemed leery about the idea but Lucy nodded to him, letting him know it was okay.

Taurus then held up his battle axe and slowly swung it towards Lucy. "Ok Taurus, freeze right there." Makarov said. Taurus did as instructed and held the axe blade in place a mere few feet from Lucy's head.

"Now remember child, even though you have your spirits to fight with you, there may be the possibility that you'll have to face something like this. So, what would you do if you saw a weapon like this heading your way." Makarov questioned.

"Hm, well I would duck out of the way." Lucy replied and went to move to her left to 'dodge' the axe.

"Good, good. Now let's try that a little quicker. Taurus if you could swing your axe towards her again please.?"

Taurus lifted his axe back into position and Lucy took her place next to Makarov. "Proceed." Makarov said. Taurus swung his axe again, slow enough for Lucy to dodge it and she tucked and rolled to her left.

"Very good my child. You are quick on your feet." Makarov praised.

"Thanks master, but he wasn't swinging it very fast, I had plenty of time to avoid it." Lucy pointed out.

"I know dear but safety is of the utmost importance here. the point is that when you see something being swung at you, you need to not be afraid and take action to evade it."

"I see. Don't worry, I'll remember." Lucy smiled back at her master.

"Good now let's try something else." Makarov suggested.

The the rest of the hour, Makarov showed Lucy different scenarios of things that could happen it the middle of a battle and instructed Lucy on what to do. He was correct about her being a fast learner. By the end of that first hour Taurus was practically battling her at real speed and she was evading each and every attack, or blocking it if it was a physical attack.

"Okay Laxus m'boy, you're up! You and Lucy get to spar for a while. I'll be right over here observing making sure everything's okay. Remember this is just a spar, the intent is not to injure but to develop your skills." Makarov nodded his head and walked to the side of the training area, taking a seat on the grass.

"Is magic allowed gramps?" Laxus asked.

"Yes, magic is allowed as long as you are able to control it."

"Ok." Laxus conceded. He walked up to Lucy who was standing in the middle of the grounds, a little worn out from running around.

"You ready Lu? I won't go easy on you." Laxus warned.

"Try me." Lucy said getting into her battle stance.

"Ok, here I come!" Laxus said charging at her. Lucy stood her ground noticing Laxus was leaning slightly to his right, which meant he was going to attack her left side. He proceeded to kick his leg out in an attempt to trip the celestial mage but she jumped up at the last minute and avoided it.

"Nice one Lulu! But you won't always see me coming." Laxus said.

He began charging up his magic and shot a lightning bolt at her. Nothing too powerful but enough to jolt her. Lucy saw the bolt heading towards her and tried to get out of the way by lunging to her right but the bolt still singed her arm as it passed her by.

She felt a stinging sensation and saw that she had a small burn mark on her arm. "Ow! That stung Laxy!"

"Well you should of moved faster." Laxus taunted. Lucy just glared at him. "Okay, time to get serious!" she shouted. She pulled out a key from her key ring. "Celestial spirit I call on thee, open thy gate, Capricorn!"

Capricorn appeared instantly. "Good morning Lucy-sama. How may I be of assistance today." He bowed politely in front of her.

"Capricorn, Laxus and I are sparring and I need your help." Lucy stated rubbing her arm. Capricorn looked to master Makarov who yelled across the field "This is just for training purposes!"

Capricorn nodded his head in understanding and got into his battle ready stance. Meanwhile Laxus eyed Capricorn and thought. 'Now I get to see some action!'

Capricorn lunged towards Laxus, making him think he was going for a kick to the knees, but he feinted and punched Laxus in the stomach. Not too hard, but hard enough that Laxus doubled over for a second.

"Geez lu, your spirit is tough!" Laxus said through gritted teeth.

"I know, isn't he the greatest?" Lucy praised.

Laxus just smirked at her. Impressed at the fact that she had enough magic in her to keep a strong spirit like Capricorn out for as long as she has.

"Thanks Capricorn, that's all for now." Lucy said, already feeling the affects of keeping his gate open and feeling tired from her earlier training.

"Anytime Lucy-sama, it was my pleasure." He nodded goodbye to Laxus, who waved to him before he disappeared back into the spirit world.

They went back to physical sparring Lucy being able to block most of Laxus' hits, although a few got through her defenses she was no worse for wear at the end of the hour. Both mages were panting slightly from the exertion but otherwise not harmed.

"Well done you two! Lucy you are improving immensely since we first started this regimen last week. I'm very proud of you. And as for you Laxus, you took that punch from Capricorn much better than most boys your age could."

Lucy and Laxus smiles were wide from the praise from their master. The three walked back into the guild for some refreshments.

It was three in the afternoon, two hours before Sepetto would come to pick Lucy up and bring her home, when the guild doors opened and none other than Jude Heartfilia walked in. He stood at the entrance taking in the sight before him. nearly seventy five mages all drinking, eating and having a party. Your usual day at Fairy Tail. It disgusted him that his daughter was spending time in what he considered a den of filth and depravity.

Master Makarov looked up to lock eyes with Jude. What he saw wasn't good. He saw a man with determination and malice in his eyes. He hopped down from the bar and approached him.

"Jude, welcome to Fairy Tail. We weren't expecting you today, what brings you to Magnolia?"

"I need to speak with you Makarov, privately." Jude sneered, eyeing Lucy at a table with Erza, Levy and Cana, playing games. Lucy looked up, saw her father, and knew immediately something wasn't right. She excused herself from the girls table and went to find Laxus.

"As you wish, please follow me to my office." Makarov led the way upstairs while Jude followed, briefcase in hand. Once they reached his office Makarov sat behind his desk and gestured for Jude to take a seat. Jude did so and began opening his briefcase.

"This visit is not for pleasantries as I'm sure you've guessed." Jude said coldly.

"As I expected. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today." Makarov replied.

"This is my reason for visiting this decrepit run down foster home you call a guild." Jude said as he handed Makarov an envelope.

Makarov's brows turned down, matching the rest of his face in a scowl. "Jude, I understand you don't see mage guilds in a positive light, but I will not have you insult my guild to my face." He took the envelope from Jude's hands. "What's this?"

"This is a legally drawn document saying that since I am now the only parent to Lucy Heartfilia that I am able to parent her as I see fit and it supersedes what is written in my wife's will. I now have sole control of my daughter's life, including her education, which I've decided will no longer be done here at Fairy Tail."

Makarov's eyes widened at that and looked at the envelope in his hands. He opened it and read through it. Every detail. It was iron clad. He had no idea how Jude was able to do it, but he was able to override Layla's will when it came to Lucy and Fairy Tail.

"You aren't serious are you? Lucy loves it here. All her friends are here. You mean to take away her happiness so soon after her mother died?"

"This isn't about happiness. This is about her future. She is the heir to the Heartfilia fortune and I can't have her gallivanting around Fiore doing jobs as a mage. She needs to get a proper education, which I'll personally see to." Jude spat. He was over the moon with the work his legal team did. He would now have his daughter, his only family all to himself and he could groom her into the heir he always wanted.

"I would say her happiness is a big part of her future. What you are doing could be detrimental to her very well being. I would like it to be on record that I oppose this action and I will do everything in my power to stop it." Makarov stated, anger and sadness mixed in his voice.

"I'd like to see you try. Now if you could please call my daughter up here, there is the business of removing her guild stamp."

After her father and master Makarov disappeared into his office, Lucy grabbed Laxus from the table he was sitting at with Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen.

"Lax, did you see my dad come through just now?"

"Yea I did, he didn't look too happy. What's going on?"

"I don't know, but I'm scared." a single tear escaped her chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about Lulu."

"He looked really mad Laxy, I bet he's up to no good."

"We don't know that for sure. Just hang tight ok?" Laxus gave her a hug and looked in the direction of his grandfather's office. 'I wonder what they're talking about.'

No sooner had Laxus thought that, then Makarov came hurriedly down the stairs and walked straight to Lucy and Laxus.

"Lucy my dear. You're father has come here with some very unsettling news. He requires your presence in my office. Lucy, know that I will do everything in my power to change what's about to happen."

"Master? What does that mean?" What's about to happen!" Lucy yelled. Laxus just eyed his grandfather, trying to figure out what was going on.

"You'll see once we get to my office child. I wouldn't not want to discuss this out here just yet." He reached for Lucy's hand and she hesitantly grabbed it and began walking to Makarov's office. Laxus trailing not far behind. The three stopped at the door to his office. Makarov took both of Lucy's hands in his own. gently rubbing her pink guild stamp on her left hand. "Lucy, I want you to know that I think of you as a daughter and what's going to take place in that room has nothing to do with this guild and everything to do with your father and his wishes."

Lucy's tears started streaking down her cheeks. Her stomach was churning and she was terrified. 'What could Papa possibly do to get master this upset?'

"Can Lax come in too?" Lucy asked.

"I'm afraid not child. Laxus you'll have to stay out here, you got that. Do not come in this office under any circumstances." The tone in Makarov's voice leaving no room for argument. "Yes. I got it." Laxus said his anger flaring up more and more by the minute. He hated seeing Lucy sad. Lucy looked over to him with a look of utter confusion and fear. Laxus put his hand on her shoulder "I'm here for you Lulu, I'll be right outside here." Lucy just nodded and Makarov turned the knob to his office door and ushered her inside. Once the door was closed Laxus put his ear up to it.

Lucy slowly walked up to her father tears still running down her face. "Papa, why are you here? Why do you need to see me?"

"Lucy, my daughter, I've decided it's high time that you stop coming to this foolish place and stay home to be groomed to be my heir apparent." Jude said without emotion to his daughter. "Makarov, the guild stamp."

"What? NO! NO! You can't do this! Fairy Tail is my second home! You can't take me away from here. Please don't do it papa please!" Lucy wailed as she fell to the floor beside the chair Jude was occupying.

In the hallway Laxus could hear her crying and screaming. He clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth, wishing he could be in there to punch Jude Heartfilia in the face for making Lucy cry.

Makarov grabbed the guild stamp off of his desk and walked over to Lucy. "I'm so sorry my dear. I don't have a choice in the matter." He grabbed her left hand and placed the stamp over her guild mark, twisting it to the right. When he removed the stamp from her hand, her guild mark was gone.

Lucy howled in despair and buried her face in her hands. First her mother and now her guild. She never felt so alone in her life. Her father was responsible for taking away her happiness.

"How could you papa, how could you!" she jumped up and started pounding her fists on his chest. Jude grabbed her hands and held them down.

"This is for your own good Lucy. This place is a bad influence on you. See how you're acting right now? This is not the way the heir to the Heartfilia fortune should behave. Pull yourself together, we're leaving."

"NO! NO NO NO! I'm not going anywhere!" Lucy grabbed onto the arms of the chair, refusing to let go. Master Makarov just watched the scene with tears in his eyes. The little light of Fairy Tail was leaving now too, and there was nothing he could do.

Jude pried his daughter's arms from the chair and stood up, grabbed her arm and headed for the door. "We're leaving Makarov, and you won't see either of us again." He shoved the door open and stormed out of Makarov's office. Makarov ran behind them and stood on the second level to speak to his guild. Laxus running down the stairs after Lucy and her father.

"Attention brats. I have sad news today. The little light of Fairy Tail, Lucy Heartfilia is leaving our guild family today. Please, DO NOT cause a ruckus here, but send her off Fairy Tail style. Lucy, you will always remain in the hearts of every Fairy Tail member here." He then threw up the fairy tail sign with his hand.

Lucy was squirming to get out of her father's grip and finally succeeded and ran into Laxus' waiting arms. "Don't let him take me back Laxy! Please don't let him take me!" Lucy screamed as he held her in his arms.

"Let go of her kid. Lucy it's time to go home now." Jude said and started walking towards the pair.

Laxus put Lucy behind her and shielded her from Jude's view. "You'll have to go through me first. If you can." Laxus threatened. Just then Makarov's giant hand came down from the second story and grabbed Laxus and brought him back up.

"Laxus, our hands our tied in this matter. If you fought Jude he could sue us and disband the entire guild. Do you really want that?"

"Gramps we can't just let him take her! She doesn't want to leave!"

"We have no choice in the matter, he is her father."

Laxus shouted to Makarov, loud enough for Jude to hear. "He's no father, he's a monster."

Jude just dismissed the boy's insult and grabbed his daughter's hand. "Come now Lucy, we're going home for good now. Say goodbye to your guild."

Lucy turned around at the front doors to see everyone giving her the Fairy Tail salute and all at once the whole guild said "We love you Lucy."

Makarov shouted from the balcony. "We will never forget you Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy just sobbed and was pulled by her father out the doors. Laxus broke free from his grandfather's grip and ran after her. Once he got through the front doors he saw Jude's car driving away with Lucy sticking her head out the window seeing Laxus "I'll write you Laxy! I promise, I'll write you!" Before her head was pulled back into the car and it drove out of sight.

Laxus roared with anger. "AAAAHHHGGGGHH! His lightning dancing all around him, soon thunder clouds were forming above his head. The amount of energy he was releasing was causing everyone's hair to stand on end in the guild. Makarov looked around and spotted Gildarts at the bar.

"Gildarts. Go out there and calm the brat down before the guild gets incinerated by lightning."

"Right." Gildarts replied and rushed out to the front lawn of the guild. The sight he saw was impressive to say the least. Laxus was surrounded by lightning strikes and a dangerous aura. Gildarts stood outside of the range of lightning and channeled his magic to break the earth underneath him.

Laxus was startled by this as he fell into the hole Gildarts created. The lightning storm subsided and Gildarts jumped into the hole and pulled Laxus out. The only coherent word that was coming out of his mouth between sobs was "LULU! LULU!"


	5. Unfortunate Happenings

Chapter 5

Unfortunate Happenings

It had been two weeks since Jude stormed out of the guild, with Lucy in tow, and Laxus was absolutely miserable. No one wanted to be near him for fear of sending him into an angry tirade. The only people brave enough to be around him were Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen, which was where you could now find Laxus, keeping to himself at their table, his soundpod from Lucy blasting.

The guild doors opened revealing a delivery guy wearing khaki shorts and a matching khaki button up with a satchel over his arm. He went to the bar delivered some mail to Jojo the barkeep and made his way out.

Jojo skimmed through the mail in his hands, tossing the junk over his shoulder, when he came to a hand addressed envelope, with a return address from...the Heartfilia Konzern, addressed to Laxus Dreyar. He just stared at it for a moment before putting the rest of the mail down and started walking hesitantly toward the lightning mage's table.

"Ahem, Laxus. I-I have a letter for you." Jojo said, trying to get his attention.

Nothing. Laxus just stared at the table in front of him, oblivious to his surroundings.

"Laxus, a letter came for you in the mail today." Jojo tried again, this time louder.

Still nothing. Jojo got fed up and slid the letter under Laxus' nose and went back to the bar.

Laxus stilled when he noticed the creamy white envelope under his face. Especially when he saw who it was from. He removed his soundpods and looked up to see his friends eyeing him warily.

"Who's it from Laxus-sama?" Freed asked.

"Yea who would want to send you a letter?" Evergreen piped in, not looking up from painting her nails.

"Is it a love letter from a fan?" Bickslow teased

"...It's from Lulu." Was all Laxus said before he got up, snatched the letter from the table and headed out the doors.

The three friends just watched as the lightning mage stormed out of the guild. Hoping that whatever was written inside, wasn't bad. They couldn't take an even grumpier Laxus.

Laxus rushed to his and Lucy's tree, where he could have some privacy reading the letter. Who cared if it was freezing outside. All he could think of was the last time he saw her. Her tear riddled face and eyes that held an abundance of fear and uncertainty haunted his mind. He made a promise to himself didn't he? That he would protect her? 'Well we all saw how that turned out.' Laxus scolded himself.

He reached the tree and sat down in the snow. Not caring how cold or wet he would get. He looked at the letter in his hands, almost afraid to open it. 'What if it's more bad news? I don't think I can handle that.' Laxus thought. But then again, if she was in even more trouble then he had to do something about it. He could at least redeem himself and go after her. With that thought in mind, he opened the envelope, retrieved the letter and unfolded it, prepared for whatever lay within.

'What beautiful handwriting.' He thought.

Dear Lax,

I'm so sorry for not writing to you sooner, but I said I'd write you a letter, and here it is!

Oh Laxy, this last week has been horrible. I don't know who my father is anymore. He barely says a word to me. He sends tutors to my room daily for study and the only time I see him is at the dining table. It was his birthday three days ago and I made him a birthday cupcake. I brought it into his office and tried to give it to him but he didn't even pay attention to me. I feel so, so alone. I miss you so much! You are the only person that understands me, that gets me. You're the only one that knows how to make me feel better. I lay in bed at night thinking about all the good times we've had and it keeps me going for the next day, knowing that one day, I will come back to you and Fairy Tail. I don't know when, but I will. Please don't let the guild go crazy and try to rescue me. My father has increased security at the Konzern and told the guards if they see anyone from Fairy Tail, to do their worst. I wouldn't want my friends to get hurt because of me.

I'm okay, know that I'm doing okay. I'll survive here, my Father loves me, I just know he does, he just happens to have bad ways of showing it. I think of you all the time. I see you in my dreams. You will always be a part of me Laxy, know that.

Much Love,

Lulu

Laxus reread the letter a few time, letting a single tear fall from his eyes. 'She dreams about me, just like I dream about her.' He got up and stuffed the letter in his pocket, making his way back into the guild. He walked up the stairs to his grandfathers office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." He heard from the other side. Laxus entered and sat down in the leather armchair in front of Makarov's desk. He silently slid the letter across the desk to the old man.

Makarov just eyed him for a moment and looked at the letter. "What's this?"

"Lulu, she wrote me a letter." Was all he could respond with. Makarov was very tempted to read it, but since he knew she had written it directly to Laxus, he just slid it back across the desk to him, where Laxus pocketed it.

"She says she feels alone, that her father doesn't say a word to her. But she also says she's okay and she doesn't want us going after her."

"I see." Makarov replied. "Lucy is a strong individual, if anyone can get through this it's her. I can't help but have this feeling that we'll see her again someday."

Laxus just nodded. "Jiji, you got some paper and a quill in here somewhere?"

Makarov silently dug through his desk and handed Laxus several pieces of Fairy Tail letterhead, a quill and an ink well.

"Thanks gramps." and with that Laxus walked out of his office.

'I've never seen him like this. I had no idea she meant this much to him.' Makarov thought.

Laxus found himself an isolated table on the second floor of the guild, set down his supplies and began to write. He didn't have a clue what he wanted to say to her, but he just let the quill and his mind do the work. He sealed the letter in an envelope and walked out of the guild to the post office. He wanted to make sure himself that it was delivered.

A few days later Sepetto knocked on the door to Lucy's bedroom. "Miss Lucy, may I come in?" She heard no response and slowly opened the door to a dimly lit room, and by the window she saw Lucy silently staring out into the countryside.

Sepetto walked up to her, putting her hand on her shoulder. "Miss Lucy, a letter came for you today. I made sure that your father didn't see it. It's from Fairy Tail. It will be our little secret okay?"

She set the letter on the desk and walked out of the room. Lucy just gazed down to the envelope addressed to her. A small smile beginning to form on her sullen face.

She sat down at the desk and opened the envelope with baited breath. She knew who it was from.

Looking at the chicken scratch that was Laxus' handwriting she softly giggled and began to read.

My Dearest Lulu,

I can't tell you how much I miss you. The guild isn't the same without you around. I'm sorry to hear that your father doesn't speak to you. It reminds me of my own dad. I can easily relate. Everything is the same here at Fairy Tail, except we're not as happy, because you aren't here. Lu, I'm so sorry I wasn't able to protect you and that I let your dad take you away. You have no idea how badly I wanted to fight for you. Please tell me if he ever hurts you in any way. I will come to get you. I couldn't give a damn about the Konzern security, you are more important.

You mentioned that you see me in your dreams, well I see you in mine as well. Let's keep writing to each other. That way I can still be a part of your life, even if it's just a little bit. You're my best friend Lu, well, you're more than that, to me anyway...I'm not too good with this sappy shit, but I care for you and I want you to be happy, wherever you are.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours,

Laxus

Lucy sniffled as she read through the letter. She could feel the love and care put into writing it. "Why'd he have to swear in a letter?" Lucy asked no one in particular. She just laughed, that was her best friend. Her foul mouthed, protective and caring best friend. 'But he said I mean more to him than that. What's more meaningful than a best friend?' Lucy's innocent and naive mind pondered. She decided to write him back right away. "It looks like I have a pen pal!" Lucy said herself, smiling at the fact that she really wasn't alone. She always had Laxus.

Laxus' day at the guild went by excruciatingly slow. He moped around, wanting to know if Lucy wrote him back, but the mail man had come and gone with no letter. What was he to expect? It's only a week since he sent his letter. Deciding it was time to head home, he put his sound pod on and bid goodbye to his friends and headed towards his grandfathers house, which was just a short walk away from the guild.

He arrived to the large cottage near the forests edge and walked in, kicking his shoes off in different directions an sat on the couch to watch some lacrima vision. An hour later his grandfather walked in the door, noticed his grandson's shoes strewn about and picked them up, placing them in the shoe rack by the door. He saw Laxus engrossed in a show on t.v. and decided to just go ahead and make dinner.

Dinner at the Dreyar residence had been quiet for some time now. Ever since their favorite little celestial mage left the guild, there was a sadness that surrounded them.

"Have you gotten another letter from Lucy?" Makarov asked, trying to cut the tension in the room.

Laxus just shook his head and went back to eating. No one spoke for the remainder of the meal.

Laxus cleaned up the kitchen and went up to his room, laying on his bed and pulling out the letter from Lucy from his pocket. It was crumpled up by now, but he didn't care. He began to read through it again as his eyelids began to grow heavy. Before he knew it he was fast asleep.

Several hours later Laxus started to wake from feeling something brush up against his face. His eyes slowly opened to see one of his father's paper shikigami's. It blinked at him once it noticed Laxus was awake, and then spoke. "Meet me at the Magnolia pier as soon as possible. Don't tell the old man."

Laxus realized this was sent from his dad. He grabbed the shikigami and his sound pod and went downstairs. "Bye gramps I'm heading out. Be back later." Laxus said without stopping before he was out the door. Makarov looked up from his paper when he heard the front door slam. "Where is that boy heading at 10pm at night?" He looked out the window to Laxus' retreating figure and that's when he saw it. Ivan's shikigami on Laxus' shoulder.

"Ivan." Makarov growled. He put on his cloak and left the house following his grandson.

Laxus strolled through the quiet streets of Magnolia, wondering why his dad wanted to see him at the docks, and not at the house? When he was getting closer the shikigami spoke again. "He's behind the boat house on dock three." then it flew up in the air and headed in that direction. Laxus picked up his pace, making sure he didn't lose sight of the paper doll. He turned the corner of the boat house and that's when he saw him. His father was back. He had on a long black cloak, his hair was long and disheveled and he sported a five o'clock shadow. He walked towards his son with a noticeable limp.

"Son, I've returned."

"Dad!" Laxus screamed and closed the gap between them, hugging his father. Ivan just stood there and patted Laxus on the shoulder.

"Enough of that." Ivan said gruffly getting out of Laxus' grasp. He put a good foot between them. "I brought something for you." Ivan reached into his cloak and pulled out a gold colored lacrima, but it wasn't round and smooth like the lacrima's Laxus knew. This was jagged and rough, it looked like a rock made of gold.

"Is that a lacrima dad?"

"Yes, it is. It's a dragon lacrima. From the storm dragon Auster."

"How did you get it?"

"How do you think I got it? From the dragon itself!" Ivan yelled. "This is for you son. With this lacrima inside of you, the two of us can overthrow that old geezer and be guild masters of Fairy Tail. From there we could take over Magnolia, and then Fiore! The strength and power we will yield won't ever be destoryed."

"What are you talking about? I don't want to take over gramps' job, and I don't want a Lacrima inside of me." Laxus said starting to back away from his father.

"How dare you speak to me like that. After all the trouble I went through to get this, so you could be stronger! This is all for you Laxus!"

"But I don't want it!" Laxus yelled.

Makarov was watching the interaction between his family from a far and could tell that Laxus was starting to get uncomfortable. He started moving in to intervene.

"Ivan!" Makarov yelled as he ran up next to Laxus. "What is the meaning of this? Why this secret meeting?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't approve old man."

"Approve? Approve of what?"

"This." Ivan lunged for Laxus held him tight and shoved the dragon lacrima into the boys face. Laxus screamed as he tried to fight it and move his head. The lacrima began embedding itself in his left eye.

Makarov's fist grew ten times it's size and smashed Ivan to the ground. His hold on Laxus broke, and Laxus fell to the ground in agonizing pain, cradling his face. Makarov ran up to him and shook him by the shoulders.

"Laxus. Laxus! Answer me boy!"

But all that could be heard was Laxus' shouts of pain. His magic began building up around him. the static in the air causing the hairs on Makarov's arms to stand on end. He backed up and all he could do was watch the horrifying show that was Laxus' transformation. Laxus stood up, lightning strikes surrounding him, dark storm clouds in the skies above him. Makarov looked at his face and saw the black mark over Laxus' left eye. The boy was yelling at the top of his lungs and the lightning storm increased until Laxus' shouts became a violent roar and the outline of a dragon made of lightning appeared above him. As suddenly as all this happened, the lightning and storm clouds ceased and Laxus fainted and collapsed to the ground.

"Holy shit." Makarov said as he witnessed the spectacle. He looked to his son, and then his grandson, both unconscious in heaps on the ground. The boat house behind Ivan on fire from Laxus' lightning.

He quickly rushed to Laxus' side lifting his head into his lap. "Laxus my boy, say something, come on boy, wake up!" He traced his finger around the large black mark over Laxus' eye, he was out cold. Makarov felt for a pulse and thankfully found one, albeit a weak one.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw his son start to stir. He gently laid Laxus back down and strode over to Ivan.

Ivan's eyes slowly opened to see his father walking towards him with fury in his eyes. He just smirked.

"What. did. you do. to your son?" Makarov growled grabbing Ivan by his cloak and lifting him up so their gazes met.

"He won't be weak anymore pops." Ivan coughed up a bit of blood. "He and I will be the strongest mages in the guild. Once you're out of the way I'll become guild master and we'll clean house. Fairy Tail will become the most strong and powerful guild in Magnolia, perhaps even in all of Fiore."

"You're insane. You're son is unconscious and his pulse is fading fast. You could be killing him. Is it worth it for power. Is losing your son worth all of this supposed power?"

"If he dies than he was weaker than I thought." Ivan spat.

"You, Ivan are no son of mine, and as of this moment you are no longer a member of Fairy Tail." Since Makarov didn't have his guild stamp handy he just performed a spell that caused the mark to disappear.

Ivan just looked his father in the eyes. "Fine, I don't need you, my weak excuse for a son, or your pathetic guild." He coughed once more. Makarov's anger overcame him and he punched Ivan's lights out. Leaving him unconscious again. He ran over to Laxus picked him up in his arms and increased his size so he could take longer strides. He was heading towards the forest house of the one person he knew could save his grandson.

Makarov stopped in front of a quaint cottage and went back down to his normal size. He knocked on the door several times until the lights came on. The door to the cottage opened and a middle aged woman appeared her pink hair tied up with two chopsticks. She looked down to see Makarov holding an unconscious Laxus in his arms.

"He needs help, a lacrima was implanted inside of him."

The woman just huffed and stepped aside to allow them inside. "Put him on a bed in the back room." She said sternly. The woman was Porlyusica a friend of Makarov's from back in the day. Even though she was an excellent healer she was known for trying to avoid contact with human beings at any cost.

Makarov did as he was told and laid Laxus down on one of the beds in the back room which was filled with instruments and medical supplies. Porlyusica right behind him.

"How long ago did this happen?"

"About a half hour ago. His father, my son did it." He stated.

Porlyusica's eyes widened momentarily before she scoffed. "Mhhmf, humans. They'd harm their own kin. And you think me strange for wanting to avoid you all."

Makarov didn't reply, not wanting to point out that she herself, was human.

She inspected Laxus' eye and went to check his pulse. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." She shoved Makarov out of the back room and closed the door behind him.

An hour later, she opened the door and ushered him back inside the room. "How is he? Will he live?" Makarov asked.

"Yes, I was able to stabilize him and heal his eye, except for this lightning scar." She pointed to the jagged lightning bolt that went from his eyebrow to just below his eye. "However, I am unable to remove the lacrima without seriously injuring him or possibly killing him. It's too risky."

Makarov nodded and walked over to his grandson. still out cold but resting.

"What kind of lacrima was it?" Porlyusica asked a she started putting away her things.

"A dragon lacrima." Makarov responded.

She stopped what she was doing and looked him in the eye. Makarov just nodded his head. "I know, I have no idea where my son found it, except I heard he got it from the storm dragon Auster."

She looked to Laxus and back to Makarov. "He most likely has dragon magic flowing through his veins now." she said looking down. "To be honest, I have no idea how this lacrima will affect him. He'll live, but I don't know what his magic will be like. It's going to be a waiting game."

"Do you know when he'll wake up?"

"I have no idea. hopefully soon." she replied. "I'll do some more research on the topic, but for now, get out of my house!"

Without further ado, Makarov picked Laxus back up and walked out into the brisk winter air. He wouldn't have what is needed to take care of Laxus at home, and he knew Porlyusica wouldn't let him stay there, so that left the guild. With his mind made up he and Laxus headed towards the guild hall.

A week and a half later, Laxus slowly opened his eyes as the fog surrounding him slowly lifted. He looked around and realized he was in the infirmary at the guild. 'How did I get here? Last thing I remember I was talking to my dad at the docks.' As he sat up he noticed his grandfather sitting in the corner.

"Ah, you're up. How are you feeling my boy?" Makarov moved to sit on the bed next to his grandson.

"Like I was ran over by a truck." Laxus said rubbing his head. He had the world's worst headache at the moment. "How did I get here? How long have I been asleep?"

"I brought you here after some unfortunate incidents at the docks. You've been recovering for a week and 3 days." Makarov replied.

"What?! No way gramps!" It feels like I was at those docks just yesterday." Laxus said very confused about what was going on. "Where's dad?"

"Laxus, there is much we need to discuss, a lot of it is not pleasant. I'll go get you some pain medication. In the meantime I thought you might like to do some light reading." He gestured to the side table where an envelope addressed to him lay.

"Lulu?" Laxus asked his grandfather. Makarov nodded. "I'll be back soon." And he left the room to let Laxus read the letter.

Dear Laxy,

I was so happy to receive your letter. Reading your words made my day that much better, even if you felt the need to cuss. : ) Things here haven't changed much. I did ask my spirits to continue my training that master had started. My dad doesn't know about it, which makes it more fun I think. I've been learning some spells and how to fight. I feel like I'm getting stronger everyday.

It made me smile to read that you dream about me too. To be honest, I think about you a lot. I know I've said this a lot already, but I miss you. I really do, and I miss my guild and all my friends. I'd be happy to continue writing to you. I like the idea of having a 'pen pal'! I care about you too Laxus.

With love,

Lucy

Laxus smiled as he read the letter. "She cares about me." Laxus said out loud.

As the day progressed, he learned what his father had done to him, and how he was banned for life from Fairy Tail. Laxus had a myriad of emotions swirling through his brain. Anger, sadness, confusion, guilt, fear, and uncertainty all rolled into the shit storm that was Laxus' life at the moment. The only positive thing he had going was writing to Lucy. However, he couldn't get himself to respond at the moment. Lucy was gone, both of his parents were gone, he was devastated. And now he had to figure out how to deal with his new instincts and abilities. At least he had his gramps, the guild and Lucy's letters. But what he wouldn't give to look into her warm loving eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- Next chapter, Laxus and Lucy will be adults! Hope you liked the chapter!


	6. Moving Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's kind of a short chapter, but I decided to break it up so it wouldn't be insanely long. ~Pamgie

Chapter 6:

Moving Forward

It had been months since the incident with Laxus' father and his subsequent excommunication It was now April and Laxus was understandably depressed. He hadn't written back to Lucy since before the accident. He didn't know how to explain what happened to him and he didn't want her to pity him. Though in the back of his mind he knew she wouldn't, there was a part of him that didn't want to find out.

It was also his 11th birthday that Friday and he was not looking forward to it, since the two people he would have wanted to celebrate with were no longer around.

So per usual, Laxus was sulking at his usual table next to his friends. It had become routine to spend time with Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen, even though he never said much.

Jojo walked up to Laxus with a package in his hands.

"Hey Laxus, looks like you got something in the mail here, and it's not just a letter this time." He placed the package in front of the new dragon slayer and walked back to the bar.

Laxus eyed the package with disinterest at first, until he saw the return address. It was from Lucy. He quickly opened it to find an envelope that read 'Happy Birthday' and a bakery box.

His friends just looked on, waiting for what his reaction would be. "Is it from Lucy?" Freed asked.

"Yea, it is." Laxus replied. He sat there staring at the envelope. 'she remembered my birthday.' He immediately felt guilt wash over him for not writing to her for three months.

"Well, aren't ya going to open it?" Bickslow teased.

Laxus glared at the seith mage, then returned to the letter in his hand. 'Will she be upset that I didn't write to her? Just read it you pussy.' Laxus yelled at himself internally.

Dear Laxus,

Happy Birthday!

I know when you get this it probably won't be your birthday yet, but I couldn't wait to give you your present. I made you your favorite cookies! Snickerdoodles! I was sad to not get any letters from you, but I know that you probably had your reasons. I always enjoy reading them and learning about what's happening at the guild. My Father started me on business classes now, to train me to take over the business (Ha a pun!) I really have no interest in it. I could care less about trains. Things have been getting easier as time passes, but my missing you has not. I don't feel I'll ever be totally happy until I can see you again. Which I will, by the way...someday. I hope you have fun on your birthday, at least try to, for me.

Until next time,

Lucy

Laxus set the letter down and pulled out the bakery box, opening it to see two dozen snickerdoodle cookies with his first initial written on them in cinnamon.

'She knows me too well.' He thought. 'I really need to write back one of these days.'

Bickslow tried to secretly snag a cookie but Laxus saw it and zapped him, grabbed the box and the letter and moved to a different table in another corner of the guild.

"Nice one Bix, way to make him leave." Ever said.

"I wasn't trying to, I just wanted one of those cookies."

"Just leave him be for now, I'm guessing he wanted to be alone anyway." Freed interjected.

Ever since the accident, Laxus became more withdrawn and anti social.

10 years later

Through out the years that passed, Laxus and Lucy continued writing letters to each other. However, they started to become fewer and farther between as they both got used to their new lives.

Lucy had learned about what happened to Laxus, she was horrified to hear what his father had done and hoped that Laxus wouldn't become bitter because of it. She also read that there were two new guild members as well. Natsu Dragneel a fire dragon slayer and Gray Fullbuster, an ice make mage, both apparently enjoyed causing daily brawls that nearly tore the guild apart. As for Laxus, he created a team with Bickslow, Freed, and Evergreen called the Rajinshuu and became an S class mage at the age of 18, one of the youngest mages in the history of the guild to do so. Lucy was so proud of her best friend. Even though they barely talked anymore, she would always consider him one of her closest friends.

Laxus also enjoyed getting her letters whenever she wrote them. He was happy to learn that she had contracted a new spirit and that she could hold open two gates at the same time. She seemed to be growing into a strong, intelligent young woman. He wondered what she looked like now, was she still just as beautiful as when they were kids?

It was these very thoughts that were interrupted by Mira's sing songy voice. "Laxus, you got a letter!" she walked over to him and set it in front of him. He didn't even have to look at to know who it was from. No one else ever sent him letters.

Laxus just took the envelope in his hands, nodded to Mira and walked out of the guild to the oak tree that they favorited as children, it was now his favorite thinking spot. Ever since his eleventh birthday, he refused to open letters or packages from Lucy in the guild. After all, if he wanted to keep his reputation as a bad ass, he couldn't have people seeing him all sappy over a letter some girl sent him. Even though that 'girl' was the one person in the world he really cared about. Not that he would admit that to anyone. He barely admitted that to himself.

Dear Lax,

It was wonderful hearing about your adventure from your latest job. How I envy you, using your magic to serve others and travel, see new things, meet new people. How I wish I could do that!

Well, I officially loathe the man known as my 'father.' Daddy dearest called me into his office the other day, which he never does. He proceeds to tell me that I'm of marrying age now and that he's picked out some candidates to be my husband and that I'm to be married at the end of the year. Can you believe that? I'm so angry with him! I've had it with him trying to control every aspect of my life, treating me like my individuality doesn't matter. All he cares about is the bottom line. I refuse to marry someone that I haven't ever met and I won't meet until my wedding day! So I've decided, I'm coming back to Fairy Tail. Besides, I believe master has something that now belongs to me. :) I don't know when, but expect to see me in the near future.

Yours,

Lucy

Laxus smirked as he read through the letter. "That's my girl." He said aloud. She was finally coming home. He wasn't happy to hear that she was to be married but he couldn't wait to see her. He was half tempted to go right over to the Konzern himself and get her out of there, but then he figured she would hate him for it. He knew how independent she was and that she wanted to do this herself. If she didn't show up in a month or two, he'd go after her. This he promised to himself. Laxus pocketed the letter and went inside, and up to his office to write her a reply.

Lulu,

Be careful. I'll be waiting. If I don't see you within two months, I'll be coming to get you myself.

Laxus

Laxus made sure to let his grandfather know. Makarov's eyes lit up when he heard that soon, Lucy would be coming home. He agreed with Laxus that if they didn't hear from her after two months that the Rajinshuu would go and get her.

A few days later Lucy received Laxus' letter. "There he goes, trying to be a hero." She laughed to herself. She couldn't help it. She was absolutely giddy to see her Fairy Tail family and one person in particular. She had no time to waste. Lucy began planning her escape from her father and the life that she never wanted.


	7. The Return

The Bond We Share

Chapter 7:

The Return

Lucy had been brainstorming for the past week on how she could leave the Konzern and her father's iron grip on her life. She had a notebook she kept securely locked in her desk that she wrote all her ideas in. She only had a few so far:

-Leave in the middle of the night

-Go into town with Sepetto, then leave from there

The second option was circled several times. At least if she went into Magnolia with Sepetto, then she wouldn't have to travel alone and she'd already be super close to the guild hall. Now she just had to convince Sepetto.

It was right after breakfast and Lucy casually strolled into the main kitchen to find Sepetto speaking with the soux chef.

"U-Um Sepetto? Can I talk to you for a moment please?"

"Of course Miss Lucy, let me just finish up here." She turned and nodded to the chef and then walked towards Lucy. "What is it you'd like to discuss miss?"

"W-Well, it's kind of private. Can we talk in here?" Lucy gestured towards the walk in pantry to her right. Sepetto raised her eyebrow at her but silently agreed and walked into the pantry with Lucy following. Lucy quickly looked around and then closed the door, locking it from the inside.

"Why all the secrecy miss? What's going on?"

"I'm leaving the konzern Sepetto, and soon."

The only sound in the pantry was Sepetto's gasp, quickly covered by her hand over her mouth.

"I've known you the longest and you know how I've suffered over the years. That's not to say I haven't had a good life, but it's not the life I'm meant to have."

Sepetto nodded her head in understanding. She indeed had been there, since Lucy was born, and saw how she changed after her mother's death and her father's absence. She knew the young lady had a heart for magic and that she wouldn't be able to enjoy that here. Not with the life her father had planned for her. She also knew this was not necessarily the life that Layla wanted for her either.

"Miss Lucy, I'd be lying if I said I want you to leave. But I realize that your heart is not in this place, and you must follow where you heart leads you. You will always have people here that love and care for you though, please remember that."

Sepetto stepped forward and gave Lucy a hug, a single tear falling down her cheek. "How can I help?"

Lucy smiled and and her eyes filled with determination. "When will you be making a trip to Magnolia for supplies?"

Sepetto frowned. "I haven't had to go to Magnolia for a while now, not since we can just pay the merchants to deliver items directly to the konzern."

Lucy also frowned at hearing that. 'damn, I didn't bother to think about that.' Lucy put a finger to her chin in thought. "What if I told my father that I wanted to go shopping? I haven't been on a shopping trip in ages! If I bother him enough about it, I bet he'll just ask you to take me."

"It could work, but Jude is no fool Lucy. If it doesn't sound genuine he could catch on. He's always known that you'd try to leave someday."

"Hmm, that's true, but do you think he would anticipate you assisting me? You are his most trusted servant, If I ask him to let you take me it could work. Also I can't tell you how much your help means to me. I understand that this could mean the end of your employment here if my father finds out. I just want you to know I love you Sepetto." Lucy hugged Sepetto and it was now her turn to shed a few tears. She stepped back from the hug.

"Okay, I'll ask him tomorrow. I'll need some time to pack a few things. You still have that stash of jewels you saved for me all those years ago?"

"Yes, I still have it."

"Good, because I'll need that as well." The wheels in Lucy's head were turning.

"Very well, I'll make the arrangements." Sepetto said.

"Thank you Sepetto, thank you for everything." Lucy hugged her once more and then unlocked the pantry door and stepped out into the kitchen. The plan was now afoot.

Lucy went to her room and began to pack a few outfits and toiletries into a leather satchel. She called out her spirits one by one, including her newest spirit Scorpio to let them know of her plan. She made sure to pack her notebook as well as the novel she had started writing. She heard a knock at her door and knew the first tutor of the day had arrived. She shoved the bag under her bed and went to open the door, ready to get on with the last day of her life at the Heartfilia Konzern.

The day had gone by agonizingly slow. Lucy couldn't concentrate on any of her lessons, all that was on her mind was Fairy Tail.

'How much has it changed since I've been gone. I wonder if Levy, Cana, Erza, Mira and Lisanna are still there. I wonder what Laxus looks like now? Especially now that he has that scar over his eye. I bet it makes him look more rugged.'

Lucy had to admit that even when they were kids, Laxus was a good looking boy. She could only surmise that those boyish good looks translated into a ruggedly handsome physique. She was getting extremely nervous about her plan. 'If this doesn't work, then my father will be onto me, and I'll lose the element of surprise. No doubt he'll just increase security.' Lucy sighed. All these thoughts were not helping her get any sleep, and she would need all the rest she could get for the day ahead.

Lucy woke up to slivers of morning sunshine peeking through her drapes. She stretched her muscles, waking them up and yawned. 'Today is the day. You can do it Lucy!' She pepped herself up.

She got out of bed and bent down to grab her bag from underneath, double checking everything in it to make sure she didn't forget anything. "Perfect, everything's accounted for." She put the bag in her hamper in her closet, thankful that today wasn't laundry day. She took a shower, did her hair and got dressed in her usual pink 'casual' gown and went downstairs to meet her father for breakfast.

As usual he was already there when she arrived, digging into his regular gourmet cage-free eggs benedict and naturally sourced hashbrowns. Lucy sat in her chair on the opposite end of the table and was served her breakfast as well. She took a few bites then decided it's go time. 'It's now or never girl. You can do it!' She took a deep breath to prepare herself and then spoke.

"Father?"

Nothing, no response was seen from the stoic man on the other end.

"Father." Lucy tried again, louder than before in case he didn't hear her.

"FATHER!" Lucy yelled this time, seeing no other alternative.

That got his attention. Jude put down his utensils and looked down the table to his daughter.

"Lucy, that's no way for an heiress to behave at the breakfast table, haven't you learned anything from all the tutors I've hired." Jude drawled as he rolled his eyes and went back to his food.

"If you had replied to me the first time I would not have had to raise my voice father." Lucy said as politely as possible. Although she was sure a hint of annoyance leaked through.

Jude looked up from his breakfast once more. "All right, speak your mind my daughter. I'm listening."

"Well, I-I'd like to go to Magnolia to go shopping today father."

Jude shook his head. "There's no need for that. We can have anything you desire sent here to the konzern, surely you know that."

"I'm well aware, but that's not the point. I'd like to go shopping."

"Why?"

'shit, is he catching on to me? play it cool Lucy, play it cool.'

"I would like to experience it at least once before I'm a married woman and my responsibilities prohibit me from doing so. Besides, I'm a teenage girl and I think it would be fun! Please, please father?"

Jude eyed her warily before conceding, finding that this conversation was boring him.

"Fine. Sepetto, can you come in here please?" Jude called to the kitchen.

Sepetto entered and curtsied in front of Jude. "How may I be of service sir?"

"Lucy here would like to spend the day shopping in Magnolia. Since I won't allow her to go alone, you shall accompany her. Make sure she gets home safely." Jude added the last part with a more serious tone to his voice.

"Yes sir, it would be my honor to accompany your daughter. I will return her safely to you." Sepetto replied. Jude just nodded and turned to face Lucy once more.

"Lucy, stop by my office after breakfast to get some jewels for your trip." Jude said emotionlessly.

"Of course. Thank you father, this means a lot to me."

"You're welcome. Anything for you my daughter." With that Jude stood up to take his leave. 'Was that sarcasm in his voice?' Lucy wondered.

Once he left the dining hall, Sepetto walked up to Lucy, making sure no one else was in the hall she bent down and made it look like she was clearing Lucy's place but instead whispered in her ear. "I have the funds we discussed in my quarters. I will bring them with us. Meet me out on the front grounds in one hour. Also, we should be on our guard. I think your father is suspicious."

"Right, I'll meet you in one hour." Lucy replied and got up, and headed for her father's office. She knocked once and actually heard a reply. "Enter." Lucy slowly opened the door and closed it behind her. She silently walked up to his desk, waiting for him to speak. Jude got out of his chair and moved around his desk to a floor to ceiling book case. He removed a worn looking tome from the shelf and took a handful of jewels out of it. Still not saying a word, he walked up to Lucy and handed her the money.

"Enjoy yourself. be back by nightfall, if you aren't, I will send for you."

"Yes Father, I understand. And thank you again."

Jude just nodded and gestured for her to leave his office. Lucy curtsied and left. Heading for her bedroom.

She looked around, admiring her room one last time. She had to admit, she would miss all these material comforts a little bit, but it was worth it to gain her happiness back. She went to her closet and changed out of the dress she was wearing and into a blue pleated mini skirt, and a sleeveless collared white and blue tank top with a v neckline that accentuated her bust. She took her hair out of her updo and brushed it out, tying half of it back and into a side pony. She then picked up some knee high boots and put them on, lacing them up. She then grabbed her belt which had her key ring on it and fastened it around her waist. This was her training outfit, but it was one of the few pieces of clothing she owned that she felt comfortable in. All the dresses her father made her wear were so stuffy and constricting.

She checked herself out in the mirror, then went over to her desk. Taking a key she taped underneath out of it's bindings and unlocked the locked drawer to her left. As she was getting ready she realized that she almost forgot her mother's handwritten letter she received after she died and a few photos of them from when she was a child. Lucy started tearing up looking at them, remembering the fond memories she had of her and her mother at the guild. The guild that she would be returning to today. She took the pictures and the letter, and set them on her bed as she went to her closet to grab her satchel from the hamper. She put them in a side pocket where they wouldn't get damaged by her other belongings.

Lucy looked at the clock in her room and saw it was ten minutes to 11am. She slung her satchel across her body and walked towards her door. Looking at her room again before walking out. She passed the closed door of her father's office, realizing she may never see him again. The thought made her sad. Even though he never showed her any affection, she knew somewhere deep down that he loved her. She continued on and down the grand staircase and into the foyer, looking around one last time before walking out the front doors and onto the grounds where she saw Sepetto waiting by a company car.

They nodded to each other without a word and Sepetto got into the drivers seat as Lucy sat herself in the back. Once they were out of sight of the konzern and about a mile away, Lucy asked Sepetto to stop the car.

"Why Miss Lucy?"

"I'd like to sit in front with you if that's okay. And you don't need to call me miss anymore. Lucy is fine."

"As you wish..Lucy." Sepetto stopped the car for a moment and Lucy hopped out of the back and slid into the passenger seat. Sepetto started the car again and sped away, wanting to get as far away from the konzern as possible.

After a few minutes of silence, Sepetto's voice cut through the air. "The jewels are in the glove box there. It's not much but it's something to help keep you on your feet." Lucy reached into the glove box and took out a faded envelope with the jewels inside.

"Thank you Sepetto, for keeping this safe for me all these years."

"No problem." Sepetto replied.

After an hour and a half drive, Lucy could see the buildings of Magnolia start to rise up in the distance, a smile began to light her face. "We're almost there!" She squealed.

Sepetto just laughed and kept her eyes on the road.

"Do you want to stop somewhere and get some lunch? My treat!" Lucy asked.

"I'd love to." Sepetto glanced over to Lucy and smiled.

Once they got into town they drove around looking for a place to eat.

"How about that one!" Lucy pointed to the 8 Island sign. It was one of a few locations in several towns. "I heard the food is great!" Lucy beamed.

"8 Island it is then." Sepetto parked on a nearby street and they walked over to the restaurant.

They spent over an hour there, eating and talking. Lucy learned so much about Sepetto, how she grew up, her likes and dislikes. It was a moment she wouldn't soon forget, especially since she didn't know if she'd ever see the woman again.

During their meal they kept noticing a commotion coming from a corner table where a pink haired young man and his flying cat were sitting eating a mountain of food. Lucy just shook her head, and tried to ignore the slurping, loud chewing and banging of plates.

After lunch Lucy paid the bill and the two women walked out of the restaurant and towards their car. Unbeknownst to them, they were being followed by two men. They were just about to walk past the alleyway between 8 island and another building when the two men ambushed them and pushed them into the alley.

Natsu looked up from his plate of food when he heard the screams of a young woman. "Natsu what's wrong?" His cat Happy asked. "I hear a girl screaming, come on Happy, lets go check it out." Natsu threw down a crumpled wad of jewels on the table and rushed out. Happy flying right behind him.

Meanwhile in the alley, the two men had cornered Lucy and Sepetto and one had already grabbed Lucy's keys from her belt. "Ah, ah, ah. We know what you can do with these. and we're not going to take our chances." That was when Lucy noticed the gold embroidered H on their black jackets. They were sent by her father.

"My father sent you didn't he?" Lucy asked, not really needing an answer.

"Why yes he did. Mr. Heartfilia knew you'd try something like this one day."

"What does he think I'm trying? I'm just out shopping like I said I wanted to." Lucy replied, trying to out smart the two brutes in front of her.

"That bag you're holding is a lot bigger than a woman's purse. Also we were eavesdropping on you in the restaurant."

Lucy's anger got the better of her and she got into her battle stance ready to fight for her freedom. Sepetto suddenly stood in between Lucy and the two men. "Come on Miss Lucy, I don't want to see you get hurt. It looks like we lost the fight, let's just go back to the Konzern." Sepetto hung her head in defeat.

"NO! I refuse to go back!" Lucy then lunged for the man holding her keys, attempting to get a hold of them and kicked him in the stomach. Suddenly the other man grabbed a knife out of a holster attached to his belt and grabbed Sepetto, holding the knife to her throat.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Try to go for those keys again and Sepetto here gets it." Lucy backed away from the one with her keys and turned to see Sepetto's frightened wide eyes looking straight back at her, a blade of a knife brushing up against the skin of her neck.

"SEPETTO!" Lucy screamed.

Natsu and Happy were watching the altercation in the alley. When he saw one of the men grab the older woman and threaten her life, that's when he knew to intervene.

"Come on Happy, let's go!"

"Aye sir!" Happy replied.

They rushed silently into the alley and right behind the man holding Sepetto. "I'd let go of the lady if I were you." Natsu said calmly and full of authority.

The man holding Sepetto didn't turn around but replied. "And what if I don't?" The other man and Lucy were staring at the pink haired man with flames in his hands.

"Wrong answer." Natsu replied and sent a flaming punch towards the man's head. He instantly let go of Sepetto, and she scurried over towards Lucy.

The man fell face first onto the ground, completely knocked out. "Now are you going to return those keys to the young lady, or am I going to have to force you."

"Try me." The other man said.

"Aw yea, I'm all fired up now!" Natsu yelled and he ran towards the man shouting "Fire Dragon's iron fist!" and punched the man in the chest. He flew backwards and into the brick of the adjacent wall, making a human shaped hole in the brick, landing in a heap on the ground. Happy shouted from behind "Yay Natsu!"

"Well, that wasn't as fun as I thought it would be." He dusted imaginary dirt off of himself and went to the man against the brick wall, picking up Lucy's keys and bringing them over to her.

Lucy and Sepetto were huddled together, Lucy trying to console the older woman who had a superficial cut on her neck and was about to faint.

"Here ya go!" Natsu handed Lucy her keys.

"Th-Thanks!" Lucy said composing herself. Resting Sepetto against a wall for a moment.

"No problem! Natsu smiled back. "I'm Natsu Dragneel and this is my cat Happy." He introduced themselves.

When he held out his hand to shake hers, that's when she saw it, his guild mark on his right shoulder. His name and his magic, it all made sense to her now.

"I'm Lucy, thanks for saving us."

"Like I said, it was no biggie." Natsu replied.

"You're a Fairy Tail mage aren't you?"

"Yea, I am. How'd you know?"

Lucy sweat dropped. "Your guild mark."

"Oh, yea. I suppose that makes sense." Natsu laughed and Happy rolled his eyes at his partner.

"Are you heading back to your guild soon?" Lucy asked.

"Well yeah, we were going to but got a little sidetracked with all this stuff." Natsu gestured towards the damaged brick wall and the two passed out Heartfilia Konzern guards.

"Great! I'm headed there as well. I'd like to rejoin the guild."

"Y-You're a mage?" Natsu asked.

"Yup, I'm a celestial mage. Those keys you got back for me are my spirits. That's why they took them, they knew they couldn't beat me if I had my keys."

Just then Lucy heard a light thump and looked over to see Sepetto on the ground, passed out from the excitement and trauma. "Oh, Sepetto!" Lucy rushed back over to her.

"She's bleeding. Do you think we could bring her with us?" Lucy asked.

"Of course, no problem." Natsu bent down and hoisted Sepetto over his shoulders.

"Ready to go?"

"You bet!" Lucy replied.

They started heading to the car that Sepetto had parked earlier. Neither of them really knew how to drive but Lucy at least had a lesson or two so she got in the drivers seat. It was a bumpy ride to say the least. Natsu immediately became nauseous and stuck his head out the window. Happy just giggled in the back seat next to Sepetto.

"Is he going to be ok?" Lucy asked the blue cat.

"Aye Sir! Since Natsu is a dragon slayer that's one of the side effects. He'll be fine once we're out of the car."

"Oh, I see, well I'll try not to get us in an accident and there in one piece."

Happy just nodded and looked out the window.

The car pulled into the courtyard of the guild and burned some rubber in the process. Skidding to a halt in front of the doors. Everyone exited the car and Natsu hoisted Sepetto over his shoulders once he composed himself and they walked to the entrance.

They reached the guild hall doors and Lucy stopped in her tracks.

"You ok?" Natsu asked.

"Y-Yea, it's just been a long time. Part of me thought I'd never see this place again."

"Well, you're here now. Let's go inside ok?" Natsu put a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy nodded to him and he opened the guild doors.

Before Lucy had a chance to take it all in Natsu pulled Lucy towards the bar. Sepetto still over his shoulders.

"Hey everyone! Look who I ran into at 8 island! Her name is Lucy and she says she's come back to rejoin the guild!" Everyone that had been in the guild since Lucy was a kid stilled and looked towards Natsu's voice. A certain dragon slayer heard the commotion and removed his soundpod when Bicklsow kept pestering him.

"B-Boss, you should really check this out." as Bickslow pointed to the bar.

"What is it?" Laxus grumpily replied. He followed Bickslow's finger to the bar and saw a gorgeous looking blonde woman with the warmest chocolate eyes. He knew those eyes. He saw them in his dreams so many times.

That's when it hit him. That beautiful young woman at the bar was Lucy, his Lucy. Laxus froze in shock. "She's here, she's really here." That's when Evergreen looked up from her manicure and followed her teams gaze to the bar. "T-That's Lucy?"

Makarov was sitting on the bar top right next to the fire dragon slayer and the blonde. He too was filled with realization as he looked her over.

"L-Lucy? Lucy my child?" Makarov hopped off the bar and stood before her.

"Yes master, it's me."

Makarov gave her the biggest hug he could muster. "Come to my office, we have much to discuss." he took hold of Lucy's hand then turned back around to Natsu.

"Who's that woman over your shoulder Natsu?"

"Huh? Oh yea, she was with Lucy, I guess she fainted. I had to knock a couple of guys around who were trying to attack them and I think it overwhelmed this one." He gestured to Sepetto, still limp over his shoulders.

"Well don't just stand there boy, bring her to the infirmary."

"Oh, right. You got it master!" Natsu replied and hurried to the infirmary with Sepetto.

Makarov looked to Lucy again. "Like I said, it looks like we have much to discuss." He lead Lucy upstairs to his office.

Laxus saw this and stood up, following the two upstairs.

Once they were in his office, Makarov shut the door and hopped up on his desk. "Let me get a look at you child. Come closer, it's been years since I've seen you." Lucy walked towards him a little self conscious. She looked up to see tears in her master's face.

"You've grown into a beautiful young woman. How I wish I could've been there to witness you grow up."

Now it was Lucy's turn to shed tears. She rushed forward and hugged her master again. "I'm so *sniffle* glad to be *sniffle* back."

"We're glad to have you back. Where would you like your guild stamp?"

"Left hand please, like before, in pink." Makarov took the guild stamp and put it over the back of her left hand, twisted it to the left and lifted it up, a pink Fairy Tail emblem left in it's place. Lucy admired the mark and then tears began to flow again. Makarov handed her a few tissues and motioned for her to sit down in one of the armchairs.

"Now I want to hear all about how you came to arrive here today and who is in my infirmary."

Lucy began to recall the last week to Makarov. While she was doing so, the door to Makarov's office slowly opened and Laxus poked his head in. Makarov saw this out of the corner of his eye and knew Laxus would want to meet with the blonde once she was done speaking with him. Makarov discreetly nodded so Lucy wouldn't notice who was behind her and went back to listening to her tale.

"So Sepetto, my family's most loyal servant, took me into Magnolia under the ruse that I wanted to go shopping. We were just getting done with lunch when two of my father's security guards ambushed us. They took my keys and threatened Sepetto, there wasn't anything I could do until Natsu showed up and took care of them."

"I see. Well then I'm guessing we should be expecting to hear from your Father very soon then?"

"Unfortunately yes, since I am, I mean I was to be married at the end of the year, I'm sure my father won't let me go so easily. But I'll fight him with everything I've got. I'm never going back there. Fairy Tail has always been my home. It's where my mom wanted me to be."

"Well, we are glad to have you back home. Come, let's let everyone know the good news. And after that, there's someone out by the training grounds that would like to speak to you." Makarov winked.

Lucy stared dumbfounded at him for a second until she realized what he meant. "La-Laxus?" Makarov nodded and gestured towards the door. Lucy just smiled and followed his lead.

They stood on the balcony of the second floor. "Okay brats. Today we will celebrate. For the lost light of Fairy Tail has been found. Please welcome back to the guild, Lucy Heartfilia!"

The guild erupted in cheers and hollers. Mugs of ale in the air. Everyone that remembered the celestial mage shouted "Welcome back Lucy!" The newer members of the guild cheering because there was a new member of the family.

After the applause died down, Lucy hurried out of the guild doors, towards the tree she could never forget. Standing there with his arms crossed was a tall, handsome blonde man with a lightning shaped scar over his eye and the familiar soundpods around his neck.

Lucy started running towards him and catapulted herself into his arms. Laxus grunted and wrapped his arms around the blonde. No words were said for several minutes as they just stood in the embrace, enjoying the fact they were in each others presence again after so long.

Then Lucy looked up into his eyes. Her own shimmering with tears. Laxus brushed a few from her cheek and smirked at her. "Welcome home Lulu." His voice deep and husky.

"Oh Laxy, I'm so glad to be home." Lucy's bright smile lit up her eyes. Her voice sweet like honey. It was music to his ears.

"I'm glad to have you home. I-I've missed you." Laxus said.

Lucy looked into those light blue eyes of his and saw the sincerity there, and something else but she couldn't quite place it.

"I've missed you too." Lucy said a slight blush dusting her cheeks.

Her eyes then went to the mark on the tree behind them. It was still there, a little worn from the elements but it was still there. She smiled to herself. then stood back a bit to get a better look at the man that she'd been writing to all these years.

"Well you've sure grown up!" Lucy commented walking around Laxus. Noticing his broad and muscular physique, how his dark purple button down shirt seemed to be painted onto him. How great his ass looked in those pants. 'Wait did I just check out Laxus' ass?' Lucy asked herself. She giggled and went to stand in front of him.

"As have you." Laxus replied eyeing the blonde before him. He'd be an idiot if he didn't notice how beautiful she was, how her body had curves in all the right places, how her skirt was so short, he also noticed something gold and saw the pendant necklace he had given to her all those years ago, nestled in her abundant cleavage. He looked away for a moment so she wouldn't see him blush.

"Still a man of few words huh?" Lucy giggled again and took his hand in her own doing their secret handshake, however, after so many years she found his hand was a lot larger than her own.

Laxus smirked as she held his hand. Finally feeling at peace after so long.

"Well, how about we head inside. I can hear the party starting." Lucy smiled at him.

"Sure thing." He replied he took hold of her hand and walked back to the guild to celebrate the return of the light of Fairy Tail.


	8. Celebration and Discovery

Chapter 8: Celebration and Discovery

Laxus and Lucy walked back into the guild hall to an eruption of cheers. Laxus let go of her hand and Lucy immediately looked up to him after the loss of physical contact. Laxus just smiled and nodded his head in the direction of his team's table and started walking away. Lucy began to follow him until Cana, Levy, and Erza rushed over to her. Laxus turned his head to barely see a head of blonde hair in a sea of blue, ,brown and red. Lucy peeked out of the tight group hug and looked to him with a look that said 'help me.' Laxus laughed a bit and returned her look with one of his own that read 'you're on your own.' and he kept walking towards his teams table.

"Oh my gosh! Lu-chan! I can't believe it, you're really home!" Levy Squealed.

"It's so good to see you Lucy, we've missed you." Erza spoke.

"Lucy! welcome back!" Cana shouted.

"It's so good to be back at Fairy Tail. I've missed you all so much!" Lucy replied hugging them all once more.

"You're going to stay this time right Lu?" Levy asked.

"Yes, I'm here to stay. This is where I belong." Lucy said with her brightest smile on her face.

The girls all cheered once more and began to usher her over to the bar.

"Actually, if it's okay with you, I'd like to check on the woman that came in with me. I'll be right back." Lucy said waving to her friends as she headed towards the infirmary.

She opened the door and saw several beds, with the one closest to the window being occupied by Sepetto, who was being tended to by Mira.

"Hi Mira, how is she?" Lucy hugged Mira and then sat down next to Sepetto's bed.

"She's fine, just hasn't recovered from her fainting spell yet I guess. The cut on her neck isn't bad, it didn't even need stitches." Mira replied sweetly

"When did you start working in the infirmary?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, I don't. Not really. I actually work behind the bar now. I just help out wherever I can."

"I see, well thank you for looking after her, she means a lot to me." Lucy said looking at Sepetto with fondness in her eyes.

"Of course, it's no problem at all." Mira replied, putting some supplies away.

"By the way Mira, where's Lisanna? Is she on a job or something?"

Mira froze and put down the box of supplies she was holding. Her sweet smile replaced by a frown.

"She's not here Lucy. She hasn't been for a few years now."

"Where did she go? What happened?" Lucy asked, seriously concerned.

"Elfman and Lis and I were on a mission and...well something happened and Elfman went into his beast soul, but he couldn't control it and well..Lisanna got in the way and was gravely injured. She...she died Lucy."

Lucy gasped and rushed over to the she demon and wrapped her arms around her from behind. "I'm so, so sorry Mira. I had no idea. Laxus never told me in any of the letters."

Mira let a few tears slide down her cheeks before she spoke. "It's alright Lucy, We all still miss her terribly but we know she's in a better place now. I'm not sure why Laxus wouldn't have told you, you'll have to ask him about that yourself. But don't let this news get you down. Today is a day for celebration. I'm so glad you've come back home." Mira said, turning around and enveloping Lucy in a hug. "I need to return to the bar now, but I'll come check on her later for you." with that, Mira walked out of the infirmary.

Lucy moved back to Sepetto's bedside and laid her hand on the sleeping woman's. "Thank you for everything. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here now." Lucy whispered. Sepetto moaned and slowly opened her eyes, meeting Lucy's warm ones.

"M-Miss Lucy? Where am I? What happened?"

Lucy held Sepetto's hand. "You fainted after being cut by one of father's guards in the alleyway after we left the restaurant. We were saved by a Fairy Tail mage who brought us here. We are in Fairy Tail now, the infirmary to be exact."

"Oh I see. Jude will no doubt know that I aided you in escape. My career is done for." Sepetto said with her head hung low.

"Sepetto, you aren't alone here. You have me. I'm sure we can figure something out." Lucy said reassuringly. Sepetto just smiled at her.

"Why don't you try and rest for a bit. If you'd like there's a party going on out there, feel free to come out and join me."

"Ok miss Lucy, that sounds fine." Sepetto sighed and got herself comfortable in the bed again.

Lucy got up and left the infirmary and went straight to the bar to continue where she left off with the girls.

"Mind if I join you?" Lucy said as she hopped onto a bar stool next to Cana.

"Ah, the woman of the hour! Have a seat friend. Mira, can I get something special for dear Lucy here."Cana winked at the white haired bar maid.

"Sure thing Cana, coming right up!" Mira winked back and began assembling the mystery beverage.

"That's very kind of you Cana thanks!" Lucy said beaming back at her old friend.

"Anything for you Lucy." Cana replied taking a swig of her barrel of ale.

"Wow, that's a lot of liquor." Lucy mused aloud watching Cana chug it down.

"Oh, this? This is nothing, it's just my pre-party barrel. The night is young you know. There's a lot we need to catch you up on."

"Here you go Lucy! Enjoy!" Mira chirped as she set down two shot glasses in front of the celestial mage.

"What's this?" Lucy asked eyeing the beverages suspiciously.

"Your surprise." Mira winked and walked away.

"Go ahead Lucy, have at it!" Cana slapped her back and took another swig of her barrel.

"Um, I don't really drink, actually I've never drank before. I don't think this is a very good idea." Lucy said eyeing the two glasses warily.

"Oh, come on! What else are you doing today? You goin' anywhere? You can always crash here at the guild. There's a first time for everything you know, that includes shots." Cana winked at Lucy.

"Really Cana, if Lucy doesn't want to drink them she doesn't have too." Erza came up on the other side of Lucy.

"I'm not forcing her to do anything she doesn't want to. Just gently persuading, there's a difference." Cana retorted, chuckling a bit.

Lucy looked between the two shot glasses to Cana, over to Erza and then made up her mind. "You know what? Cana's right. There's a first time for everything and this is a celebration isn't it? I'm gonna go for it!" Lucy shouted with enthusiasm. She then grabbed the glasses in both of her hands, and threw the first one back, then the second immediately after. Definitely not expecting the strong taste of the vodka and the warm sensation going down her throat. She coughed a couple times and pursed her lips.

"Well? What do you think?" Cana nudged her.

Lucy coughed a couple more times then composed herself enough to speak. "I think I'd like something a little sweeter." she choked out.

Cana and Erza giggled. "Mira, let's try a strawberry daiquiri for this beauty" Cana shouted down the bar to Mira who gave a nod that she heard the request.

Meanwhile Laxus had rejoined his team at their table who were watching all the guild crazies party like it was X779. He shook his head.

"Laxus-sama, do you not plan on celebrating Lucy's return?" Freed asked.

"I already did." Laxus replied curtly.

"Oh." Was all Freed could say.

"Come on boss-man! Let's party! It's been a while since we've all knocked a few back." Bickslow said as he sauntered over to the table with a pitcher of ale and 4 mugs in his hand.

"Hmmph, you men have no class." Evergreen said coming up behind Bickslow with a glass of wine in her hand.

"What was that Ever? You don't want to partake in this ale that I bought for you?" Bickslow taunted with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Not in the slightest." She replied sitting in her chair and swishing the liquid around inside the glass.

"Well, more for us then guys!" Bickslow cheered as he poured himself, Laxus and Freed a mug.

"To the light of Fairy Tail, Lucy's return." Freed toasted.

"Here here." Bicklsow concurred and clinked mugs with Freed. Laxus said nothing as he held up his mug in a cheer, his face as emotionless as ever.

Evergreen lifted her wine glass in salute, but didn't seem that happy about it.

"Lax man, why the long face? Aren't you happy your 'best friend' is back?" Bickslow asked emphasizing best friend in air quotes.

"Tch." Was Laxus' reply.

"Well I for one am definitely glad to have her back. She has one killer body. Who would've thought little Lucy would turn out to be such a babe! And will you look at that, it seems she's already making herself at home." Bickslow said motioning towards the blonde woman at the bar drinking shots. Laxus growled a bit.

"Looks like I might have some fun tonight." Bickslow said lolling his tongue out once more, trying to get a rise out of the dragon slayer next to him.

Next thing he knew Laxus' hand was around his throat. "Touch her and I'll rip your head off." He growled out, finally having enough of Bickslow's sexual advances towards Lucy.

Bickslow gulped and rubbed his throat once Laxus removed his hand. "Sure thing boss, Lucy's off limits, got it." Bickslow smirked knowingly.

Laxus nodded his head in approval and then looked back to the bar where he saw Lucy having the time of her life with Cana, Erza and Levy. 'She's home, my Lucy's finally home' he thought. Laxus was conflicted about many things. All pertaining to the gorgeous blonde woman at the bar, his best friend he'd known since they were children. But they weren't children anymore, and the more he thought about that the more confused he became. He cared for her deeply, like family. But lately, especially when he read her last letter saying she was returning, he started to feel something more, something even deeper. A connection he'd always felt when he was around her but couldn't explain. It was like a string that connected them, always bringing them back together. Now that she was here, he didn't know what to do.

As the night progressed, so did Lucy's drinking. After two shots of vodka, a strawberry daiquiri and a glass of champagne, everyone was surprised she could even stand, let alone have a somewhat coherent conversation, but there she was, talking with Natsu and Gray, sharing stories and getting to know one another. Sepetto had joined the party and was chatting with Master Makarov, keeping an eye on Lucy and just shaking her head.

All of a sudden someone turned on the lacrima stereo system and dance music pulsed throughout the guild hall. Lucy's head shot up when she heard the beat. "I love music!" She shouted. Not a moment later she jumped out of her seat and ran off, leaving both boys quite confused.

Lucy started roaming the hall looking for one person in particular. She soon found him drinking a mug of ale in a secluded corner next to his team. "Hi guys!" Lucy said excitedly as she came up to the group.

Everyone greeted her, including Laxus with a nod of his head.

"Can I borrow Laxus for a bit?"

"Sure, he's all yours beautiful." Bickslow said nudging the slayer.

Laxus rolled his eyes and stood up. "What's up Lulu?"

"Thanks everyone, bye!" She said without acknowledging Laxus' question, she just dragged Laxus away from his table. As he was stumbling and trying to keep up with the woman on a mission, he figured out where they were headed, the center of the hall that had been converted to a dance floor.

"No. No, no no." Laxus said as he stopped amongst the throng of mages dancing their hearts out.

"No what?" Lucy asked innocently.

"No dancing. I don't dance." Laxus said in all seriousness.

"What? Come on, please? It's a party! Celebrate with me, please?" Lucy looked up at him with her best puppy dog eyes.

'Damn those eyes.' Laxus thought to himself. He could feel himself caving every second he looked into those eyes.

"Please Laxy? You don't have to dance too much, just be out here with me." Lucy slurred.

Hearing that nickname coming out of the mouth of the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, did him in. Laxus just nodded his head in response.

Seeing his subtle agreement, Lucy jumped up and down. "Yay!" She shouted and threw herself on him in a hug. The people around them all looked in their direction at the celestial mages shout. Laxus just glared at them all, and they quickly returned to their dancing. He returned the embrace, and that's when Lucy started dancing.

Her dancing skills were not like the rest of the people in the hall. Lucy hadn't had any experience in this kind of casual dancing scenario. Her moves were all over the place from the combination of not knowing what she was doing and the alcohol. Laxus just took a step back and watched her with amusement dancing in his eyes. Lucy noticed he wasn't moving.

"Hey, why aren't you dancing?" She asked over the noise of the crowd.

Laxus leaned down so she could hear him. "One, I don't dance. And two, whatever it is you're doing, it's not any kind of dancing I know." He said with a smile on his face. Lucy looked up at him confused.

"What do you mean?" she then looked around them and saw how the other female mages were dancing around them. Then a light bulb went off in her head. "Oh I see! Well, how about this?" Lucy decided she would try and mimic what she saw happening around her.

She turned so her back was brushing up against his chest. She lifted her hands up and then slowly descended down, her hands trailing down Laxus' body. She got to the ground then got up, her ass before the rest of her and slowly lifted the rest of her body up.

"Shit." Laxus said quietly under his breath, staring at the perfect specimen that was Lucy's backside. She then began grinding herself up against his body and Laxus couldn't help but to put his hands on her waist, and smelling her hair whenever she was close enough, the dragon inside of him purring with content.

Back at the Rajinshuu's table, Bickslow leaned over to Evergreen. "How much you wanna bet those two are going to hook up tonight."

Evergreen looked at him and scoffed. "I doubt it."

"Really? How much would you like to wager? Because I see the tell tale signs of a hook up on that dance floor right now."

"Come now you two, betting on Laxus-sama's love life. How shameful." Freed reprimanded.

Bickslow just ignored Freed's comment. "So, how about it Ever? I bet 200 jewels there will be some hanky panky tonight." Bickslow lolled his tongue.

"Fine, I say 200 jewels they won't." Evergreen conceded.

Freed just sighed, knowing there was no stopping Bickslow's antics.

Over on the dance floor, Lucy was getting the hang of this kind of dancing and Laxus was getting more aroused by the minute. Who knew his best friend could turn him on like this? After a while he saw that she was tiring.

"Hey Lulu, how are you feeling?"

Lucy just hummed in response and tiredly leaned against him.

"I see, do you have a place to sleep tonight?"

Lucy shook her head that was buried in his chest.

"Well, the guest rooms are all taken, but you can crash in my office if you'd like."

Lucy nodded her head and looked up at the lightning mage, her eyes half lidded in drunkenness and the need for sleep.

"Follow me." Laxus said as he started for the stairs. He noticed Lucy wasn't following him and looked back to see she had tripped over her own feet and was now on the ground.

Laxus chuckled and helped the blonde back up, but she clearly didn't have the capability to walk anymore, the alcohol she consumed earlier finally taking it's toll on her. Laxus picked her up bridal style and headed for the stairs leading to his office. He was stopped in his tracks by Sepetto.

"And where do you think you're going with miss Lucy?" She asked suspiciously.

"I'm bringing her up to my office so she can have a place to sleep." Laxus replied.

"There are plenty of beds in the infirmary." Sepetto pointed out.

Laxus sighed. "Look, Lulu is my best friend. I'd die before I'd let anything happen to her. I'm not going to try anything, I just want her to have a quiet place to get some rest."

Sepetto continued to glare at him until she felt a hand on her shoulder. "She'll be fine Sepetto, you have my word." Makarov said. Sepetto looked in between grandson and grandfather.

"Fine, but let it be known I'm not happy about it." Sepetto said before she went off to her own guest room for the evening. Laxus eyed his grandfather. "Thanks gramps."

"Anytime m'boy." Makarov said before heading back towards the bar. With that Laxus continued on his way to his office with Lucy still in his arms.

Bickslow saw Laxus ascending the stairs with the beautiful blonde. "See what did I tell ya? Laxus is gonna get some tonight." He nudged Evergreen. She just rolled her eyes. "Bets still on, nothing's happened yet." She replied.

Just then Cana came up to the table. "Hey Bix." She slurred. "Get over here." She reached for his hand and dragged him from the table. Bickslow just cackled and followed the card mages lead.

Laxus had reached his office and skillfully opened the door while still holding Lucy in his arms. He laid her down on the black leather couch in his office.

"I'll be right back ok?"

"Mmhm." Lucy hummed as she got comfortable and closed her eyes.

Laxus then left the room and went to the infirmary to grab some pillows and blankets. When he arrived he noticed Lucy's satchel laying next to the bed Sepetto was in earlier, so he picked that up too and went back to his office. He walked in and Lucy was already asleep. He chuckled to himself as he set the pillows and blankets on his desk and moved over to her so he could at least remove her boots. Lucy began to stir from the movement.

Laxus smiled at her and continued unlacing her boots.

"Laxy?"

"yea."

"What're you doing?" Lucy asked her voice slurred and sleep filled.

"Figured you wouldn't want to sleep in your boots." He replied as he removed the last boot from her foot. setting them on the floor at the end of the couch.

"Oh, thanks." She replied.

Laxus nodded then went to the desk and grabbed the pillows and blankets. "Lift your head up a bit."

Lucy did as asked and Laxus slid the pillows behind her head. He then went to lay a blanket over her and tucked her feet in.

Lucy just sighed in contentment and cuddled into the blanket. "Thanks Lax, you're the best, you know that?" She tiredly said.

"Yea, yea. I'm heading home now, you get some sleep okay? There's an extra blanket on the desk here if you need it."

Lucy looked up at him with those same puppy dog eyes. "Don't leave Lax, stay with me."

Laxus sighed "Nah, it'd be best if I just went home."

"I don't want to be alone tonight. please?"

He ran his hand through his thick blonde mane. "Fine. Can you get up for a second though?"

"Huh?" Lucy asked, about ready to pass out.

Laxus walked over to her and picked her up and set her against the desk while he pulled the couch cushions off and pulled out the makeshift bed from underneath, glad that he had bought a couch with such a feature.

Once he was done, he took the other blanket and laid it down then took the pillows and set them up, then picked up Lucy again and laid her on the now bed, turned off the light, then grabbed the second blanket and laid down himself right next to her, covering them both with the blanket. He kissed the top of her head.

"G'night Lulu."

"Mhmm, night Laxy."

With that Lucy fell fast asleep while Laxus laid there, his hands behind his head, thinking about what happened that night, now knowing that his life would become a little more complicated.


	9. Settling In

Chapter 9:

Settling In

Laxus was the first to stir from his uncomfortable slumber on the hard pull out couch. He looked down to see a head of blonde hair on his chest, a leg sprawled over his midsection, finally realizing the warmth he was feeling on his hip was being produced by the apex of Lucy's thighs, only making his already erect member even harder. He froze when it dawned on him the position he was in. He knew his morning wood was brushing up against the back of her leg and if he moved the wrong way, she could wake up and realize just what that was.

'Shit, how am I going to get out this?' He thought. Laxus slowly tried moving her leg off of his torso, the moment he did however she stirred a bit. He froze once more waiting to see if she woke up. Thankfully, she moved herself and rolled onto her side away from him.

'Thank Mavis.' Laxus then slowly got off the make shift bed and stretched his sore muscles, regretting sleeping on the hard and lumpy couch.

He walked downstairs into the guildhall and saw bodies sprawled everywhere. The remnants from the previous nights festivities. He continued tiptoeing through the carnage and into the infirmary to grab some pain meds and a bottle of water, then made his way back to his office. He walked down the hallway and passed his gramps office, peaking in as he did so to see Makarov sipping on some tea at his desk.

"Good Morning. Got a bit of a hangover I see?" Makarov winked.

"It's not for me." He remained in the doorway, momentarily looking at the pills in his hand then back to his grandfather.

"Of course. By the way, I have some work for you to do." Makarov pulled a stack of papers seemingly out of nowhere and plopped them on his desk.

"Of course." Laxus replied.

"Come now boy, you know if you want to run this guild some day you need to learn the ropes. That includes doing paperwork and damage control."

"You just want me to write your apology letters for you." Laxus said knowingly.

"Well, you got me there." Makarov hopped off his chair with papers in hand and walked over to Laxus.

"Come, I'll walk these over for you." He then lead the way out of his office, Laxus trailing behind.

"Lulu's still sleeping gramps so keep your voice down."

"Sure thing." Makarov whispered.

Laxus gently nudged the door open and stepped inside, setting the pills and water on the end table next to the couch. Makarov walked up to Laxus' desk and set the papers down, turning around to look at the sleeping blonde on the pull out couch.

"She had an eventful evening didn't she?" Makarov mused quietly.

"I'm pretty sure it was the first time she tried alcohol."

"What better place for that than Fairy Tail?" Makarov replied proudly. Laxus just shook his head.

"I'm glad she's home."

"Me too gramps."

Makarov smiled knowingly at his grandson. "I'll let you get to work, I'd like those letters finished by this afternoon." With that he turned and walked out of Laxus' office, carefully closing the door behind him.

Laxus eyed the stack of papers on his desk and sighed. "Might as well get started on these while she's still sleeping." He whispered to himself.

A good two hours had passed and Laxus only had a few more letters to write, cursing Natsu, Gray and Erza under his breath the whole time. He then heard some rustling and a soft groan. He looked up from his desk and saw a pair of glazed over chocolate eyes looking back at him.

"Good morning Lu, how'd you sleep?"

Lucy looked at her surroundings, taking everything in. Laxus could see her brain working overtime to process everything.

"I've slept better." was all she said, sitting up and holding her head in her hand.

"There's some pills and water right over there, thought you might need it." Laxus pointed in the direction of the pills with the pen still in his hand.

"Hmm?" Lucy looked in the direction he was pointing, to see said pills. She gingerly scooted herself to the edge of the couch to grab them and the bottle of water.

"Thanks Lax." She said as she popped them in her mouth and took a swig from the bottle. "What happened last night? Last thing I remember I was sitting at the bar with Cana and Erza, then I remember being carried somewhere." Her thoughts trailed off as she tried remembering the events of the night prior.

"Well, you're first mistake was sitting at the bar next to Cana. She's the guild lush now. You had one too many, danced a bit, which was very entertaining (in more ways than one) then I brought you up here to crash."

"I didn't too anything too embarrassing I hope?"

"Not unless you count your dancing." Laxus replied as he started back on his paperwork.

"My dancing? What's wrong with the way I dance?"

'absolutely nothing.' He thought to himself, remembering her body grinding against his. He put down his pen and looked up at her questioning gaze. "Well let's just say once you have something to drink, your body tends to move on it's own accord." He teased, waiting to see her reaction.

"Oh dear, it was that bad huh? I always thought I was pretty good at dancing, at least the ballroom type."

Laxus laughed "It wasn't so bad Lu, I'm just giving you a hard time."

"Ha ha, very funny." She replied with humor in her voice, taking a drink from the water bottle. She swung her legs over the side of the couch and looked down to see her bag at her feet.

"I don't suppose you know where a girl could get cleaned up around here?"

"There's some locker rooms and showers downstairs a few doors down from the infirmary."

"Thanks." She replied as she picked up her bag and walked over to his desk.

"Whatcha doin?"

"Gramps is training me to take over as guild master some day. At least that's what he tells me. I think he just wants to pass off the work he doesn't want to do on me, namely apology letters."

"Apology letters?"

"Yea, our guild has a reputation for taking things a little too far, usually resulting in property damage."

"Oh." Lucy replied, which turned into a yawn.

Laxus chuckled and looked up from his paperwork once more. "Take it easy today ok blondie? The first hangover is usually a doozie."

She nodded and headed towards the door. "See you downstairs in a bit?"

"Yea, once I'm done here I'll come down to grab a bite to eat."

"Ok, sounds good. And you're blonde too you know." Lucy winked as she walked out the door. 'Blondie, that's a new one.' She thought as she made her way to the showers.

Laxus laughed again and looked back down to his latest letter.

After her shower, Lucy felt a lot more awake, although she still had a killer headache and did not appreciate all the light in the guildhall. She slowly made her way over to the bar to get some breakfast, sitting next to a miserable looking Levy.

"Morning Lev." Lucy said as cheerily as she possibly could.

Levy just groaned and lifted her head from the bar top to look at the person who couldn't possibly be so happy and awake right now. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw it was Lucy.

"Oh, Hi Lu-chan. How are you so bright and cheery after last night? I feel like I was run over by a truck."

Lucy giggled and put her arm around the script mage. "I don't feel much better myself Lev, I just took some pain killers a bit ago. My head is pounding."

"Well that makes two of us. It doesn't explain how you seem so energetic though."

"Oh, I don't know, it's just the way I am." Lucy replied.

"Good morning ladies! How are we feeling today?" Mira asked as she put some pills in front of Levy with some water. Levy groaned in response and quickly took the pills, washing them down with her glass of water.

"I've been better Mira." Lucy replied with a smile on her face.

"Can I get you something to eat?"

"Oh, yes that sounds great! Can I get some chocolate chip pancakes please?" Lucy asked, her hands clasped together in a pleading fashion.

"And I'd like some coffee and eggs please Mira." Levy asked.

"Sure thing, coming right up!" Mira chirped and walked back into the kitchen.

"How did Mira come to work behind the bar? What happened to Jojo?" Lucy asked curiously.

"After Lisanna died, Mira was heartbroken and decided she didn't want to go on jobs anymore, so Master offered her a job here. Jojo had just left the guild a month before, it was perfect timing really. Mira doesn't use her magic much anymore."

"I can't believe I didn't hear about Lisanna. She was such a good friend."

"Yes, she was. We all still miss her very much." Levy replied, taking another drink from her giant glass of water.

Lucy nodded her head in agreement. Just then the guild doors burst open and Natsu sauntered in with Happy flying behind him. He looked around until he saw Lucy and ran up to her.

"Hey Luce! How's it going?" He slapped her on the back in greeting.

Startled by his sudden actions, Lucy took a moment to compose herself before she spoke. "I've been better, but I'm so glad to be back. Thanks again Natsu for helping Sepetto and I yesterday."

"No problem! Hey, have you thought about whose team you want to join? Gray and Erza and I would love to have you!"

"Team?"

"Yea, mages tend to form teams with their friends or other mages that have complimentary magic to them to go on missions and jobs with. I'm on a team with Jet and Droy, we're team shadowgear!" Levy replied.

"Oh, well since this is the first I've heard of that, no I haven't had a chance to think about it. You're the first person to ask me Natsu."

"Since I'm the first then you should join our team!"

"Aye sir!" Happy chimed in.

Lucy looked at the pink haired slayer and his million watt smile, seeing genuine interest and for the first time, noticing his boyish good looks. "Sure, why not!"

"Alright! Yea Luce! You're going to love team Natsu! Let's head over to our table."

"I'm waiting for my breakfast, but once it comes, I'll head over there."

"Alright! I'm fired up now! Come on Happy."

"Aye Sir! Lushy's on team Natsu!" Happy cried as they ran over to Gray and Erza.

"Do you have any idea what you just agreed to?" Levy asked as she sipped on her freshly delivered coffee.

"What do you mean? I'm excited to be on a team with Erza and get to know Gray and Natsu better."

"Lu, they are the most destructive team in the guild. Every job they go on, they manage to destroy a village, town or some precious artifact or statue."

Lucy then remembered the 'apology letters' Laxus was writing upstairs.

"Are they the team that has Laxus writing all those apology letters?"

"Yup." Was Levy's only reply.

"Well, I'm sure it's not that bad." Lucy said.

"Oh, it's that bad." Said a deep male voice behind her.

She turned her head to see Laxus standing right behind her.

"Did I hear what I think I heard? Did you just join team Natsu?"

"Yes, I did." She replied confidently.

'Well there goes my chance for asking her to join the Rajinshuu.' He thought, a little crestfallen. He shook his head. "Good luck with that Lulu. When you're done with breakfast I'd like to talk." With that Laxus walked over to his teams table to join his friends.

"Sure thing!" She replied just as Mira returned with her food.

"So you and Laxus huh?" Mira prodded. "I saw you two getting friendly on the dance floor last night." The she demon's eyes started to resemble hearts.

"What? Oh it was nothing, Laxy and I are best friends!" Lucy replied, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.

"Friends don't dance the way you two were last night." Levy chimed in, her mouth full of eggs and a mischevious glint in her eyes.

"Come you guys, we're just friends. I don't even remember half of what happened last night." Lucy said bashfully, trying to remember her and Laxus dancing together.

Mira and Levy just looked at one another and went back to eating and tending bar.

"Well I'm going over to team Natsu's table, talk to you later Levy!"

"K, bye Lu-chan."

Over at the Thunder God Tribe's table, Laxus had joined the rest of his team and was about to put his soundpods on when he felt an elbow in his side.

"Hey boss, I noticed you and the blonde bombshell went up to your office last night." Bickslow teased as he did his classic facial expression.

"Yea, what about it?"

"I want details man! How was she?" Bix put his arm around the lightning mage.

Laxus didn't say a word. Instead he pushed some magic into his finger and zapped Bickslow's arm that was still draped around him.

"That good huh? You lucky bastard." Bickslow rubbed his singed arm and smirked at the slayer next to him.

"Nothing happened. We just fell asleep." Laxus finally spoke.

"See Ever? They 'slept together'." Bickslow air quoted. "Now pay up!"

"Yea right, you owe me! They didn't do anything." Evergreen held her hand out waiting for her reward.

"Fine, fine." Bickslow dug into his pocket and handed her some crumpled up jewels.

"Did you two bet on me last night?"

The two looked at each other then to Laxus and just froze before Bickslow had the courage to speak. "Well you two did seem pretty cozy last night on the dance floor."

"Tch." Was the only reply they received from the dragon slayer as he looked away from his team mates.

"Indeed they did Laxus-sama. I was disgusted, myself." Freed spoke up

Laxus didn't reply, he just shook his head and put his sound pods on, drowning out the chaos that was the Fairy Tail guild hall.

Breakfast went by relatively quickly, Lucy got better acquainted with Natsu and Gray, while Erza filled her in on the workings of the team. When she finally finished eating, she excused herself and walked over to the Rajinshuu's table.

"Hey blondie! What's shakin'?" Bickslow asked, taking a sip from the mug in his hand.

"Hi everyone! Isn't it a bit early to be drinking Bickslow?"

"Looks like the resident drunk is being a bad influence on you Bix." Laxus mused.

Bickslow lolled his tongue out at Laxus and cackled in response. "Whether it's good or bad, I have to admit I'm liking it."

"What a perv." Evergreen replied, rolling her eyes.

"Good morning Lucy." Freed nodded in her direction.

"Lax, you said you wanted to talk?" Lucy asked.

"Yea, follow me." Laxus said and started walking upstairs. Lucy followed. Once they were in his office he shut the door and leaned against the edge of his desk, picking up a gold box next to him.

"First things first, gramps asked me to give this to you. He wanted to do it himself but had to run this morning." He handed her the gold box.

Lucy took it and looked at it suspiciously. "What is it?"

"Dunno, You'll have to open it and see." He too was equally curious as to it's contents.

Lucy opened the box and saw a note sitting on top of a gold key. She took the note out and set the box down, eyeing the key laying inside.

She recognized her mother's handwriting right away. "It's from my mother."

Laxus eyes widened at that as he waited for Lucy to read the contents of the note.

My dearest daughter,

If you are reading this, then you are now 18 and an adult. I so wish I could have witnessed you grow into the wonderful woman I know you've become. I'm also assuming that if you are reading this, that you are still a part of Fairy Tail, and for that I am so thankful. This key I am giving you now is my most trusted spirit, the leader of the zodiac, Leo the Lion. He has vowed to remain loyal to all of my descendants and that means that you are the next in line to hold his key. I wanted to you to wait until you were older to form a contract with him, you'll see why soon enough. He's a very protective and loyal spirit and I know that he'll be a great addition to your celestial family. I love you so much my darling, and don't forget, that I'm always with you.

All my love,

Your mother

Realization hit her once she read the letter and looked back down to the golden key in the box on Laxus' desk. "This is the key my mom gave to Master to give to me after she died!" Lucy said excitedly "It's one of the 12 zodiac keys, it's the leader of the zodiac, Leo the Lion!"

Laxus eyes got even wider after hearing that. He wasn't too familiar with the zodiacs but knew that it must be important since Lucy couldn't have the key until she was older.

"Would you like to watch me make a contract with him?"

Laxus was shaken out of his own thoughts by the question. "Sure, but first I'd like to talk to you about your living situation. You'll need to find a place to stay, the guild doesn't have a spare room available right now. You're free to move into Fairy hills, the women's dorms if you'd like, or you could stay with me for the time being until you find a place." 'Did I really just offer her to stay with me?' He thought immediately after the words came out of his mouth.

Lucy dropped the letter in her hands and looked to him in shock. "L-live with you? I-I couldn't do that. I don't want to impose. I have some money I brought with me, hopefully enough to rent my own place for now. Actually, I'd like it if you could help me find a place, I'm not really familiar with the neighborhoods or anything." Lucy shuffled her feet.

"Sure. Actually, there's a townhome a few doors down from mine that's available, from what I've heard it's a bit beat up, but I could help you fix it up if you'd like. I'll make some calls and see if we can take a look at it today."

"Wow, thanks Laxy! That'd be great!" Lucy launched herself at him, hugging him tight. Laxus reciprocated, rubbing her back. "It's no problem Lulu, now let's go see this new spirit of yours."

So the two of them walked downstairs and out of the guild to their tree so there was some space to summon the spirit. After all, Lucy had no idea what to expect, the letter said this spirit was a lion.

They reached the training grounds and stood near the tree they marked all those years ago. Laxus leaned against it waiting for Lucy to begin.

Lucy looked at the key in her hands, admiring it for a moment before she gathered her magic and pushed it into the key, holding it out in front of her. "Spirit of the celestial realm, I summon thee. Open thy gate Leo, the Lion!" A puff of gold smoke appeared and disappeared just as quickly, leaving behind a man, not much older than Lucy herself, with orange hair that had two points sticking out that resembled ears. He wore glasses and had on a suit with a red tie. He adjusted his cuff links for a moment before raising his head to look at the woman before him.

When he saw blonde hair and brown eyes he froze. "Layla? L-Layla is that you?" The spirit rushed over to her and held her hands. Laxus tensed as he watched the interaction, not sure how Lucy would respond, he also didn't like the spirit being so close and familiar with her.

"N-no, sorry. Layla is my mother, she passed away some time ago. I am Lucy."

The spirit's smile faded for a moment before realization set in. "You're her daughter. My apologies mistress, You are the spitting image of your mother, perhaps even more beautiful if I may say so."

The lion spirit bowed down before Lucy and she took a step forward to help him up. "There's no need for that, and you don't need to call me mistress or master, Lucy is fine. Would you like to make a contract with me?"

The spirit stood and placed his hand over his heart. "It would be my absolute pleasure to form a contract with the immeasurably beautiful daughter of Layla Heartfilia." He took her right hand and kissed the top of it. Laxus growled at the action, which the spirit noticed and looked in his direction.

"Who is this with you my princess?" The lion spirit inquired.

"P-princess? No, no Lucy is just fine. And this is Laxus, my best friend and grandson of the master of the guild I belong to."

The lion eyed Laxus up and down with suspicion before turning his attention back to Lucy. "I see, nice to meet you Laxus. Yes, princess. For Layla was my queen and since you are her daughter you will be my princess."

Lucy just blushed in response. "S-So what are your powers and when are you available Leo?"

"My specialties are my strength, and the power of Regulus himself. I use these rings to harness that strength." He showed Lucy the gold ring on each of his hands. "You can summon me whenever you deem necessary. I am at your disposal. Also please call me Loke, princess." He once again picked up Lucy's right hand and kissed it several times.

Laxus had enough of the shenanigans and walked over to the pair. Loke saw the warning in his eyes and nonchalantly placed Lucy's hand at her side. while Laxus put his arm around her.

"It was a pleasure to finally meet you princess. I look forward to the next time I can lay eyes on that gorgeous face of yours." Loke crooned before he closed his own gate.

Laxus growled once more and this time Lucy heard it. She looked up to see Laxus' narrowed eyes locked onto the spot where Loke just stood. He realized Lucy was staring at him so he returned his gaze back to her. "Are all of your spirits like that Lulu?"

"They all have their quirks. Taurus is always commenting on how he has to protect my 'sexy body' and Virgo the maid spirit is constantly asking for punishment. Don't worry though, they're harmless." Lucy commented, looking at the gold key in her hand.

"I'm sure they are." Laxus said sarcastically under his breath.

"Did you say something Lax?"

"Nope, nothing to worry about."

"Oh, alright. When would you like to check out that town house? I'd love to see it!"

"Let me make a few calls and I'll let you know, Why don't we head back inside."

"Sounds good to me!" Lucy agreed. They walked back into the guild and Laxus headed for his office to see if they could get in to see the town house today. Lucy meanwhile went back to sit with Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy.

"Hey guys! Check it out! I got a new key!" Lucy squealed as she joined her brand new team mates.

"Cool!" Natsu shouted as he looked at the key.

"Where did you get it Lucy?" Erza asked also eyeing the key in excitement.

"Master had it, my mother gave it to him to give to me when I turned 18. It's the leader of the zodiac, Leo the lion! He's super powerful...And kind of a flirt too." Lucy giggled after the last part.

"How many keys do you have now Lucy?" Gray asked.

"Well, I've got six keys now, and now that I think about it, they are all zodiac keys, I've got half of all the zodiac keys!" Lucy said excitedly.

"That's impressive, I'm glad we have you on our team." Erza complimented as she put her arm around the celestial mage.

Lucy beamed at her new team mates as they continued learning more about her magic.

"Lulu."

Lucy turned around at the sound of the familiar nickname to see Laxus standing right behind her, holding her bag over his shoulder.

"Oh, hey Laxy, what'd you find out?"

"I called my Realtor and he's in the area and agreed to show us the place in a half hour."

"Great, well what are we waiting for? Let's head over there now! I can at least see where you live while we wait for him to get there."

Lucy looked at Laxus expectantly, while behind her, her team mate's eyes all bugged out. Laxus was not one to invite people to his home. He barely let his own team mates see his place. So the next words out of his mouth shocked team Natsu even more.

"Sure, let's go."

Team Natsu all looked to each other in confusion as Lucy stood up to leave.

"I'll be back later this afternoon guys."

"O-Okay, see you soon Lucy."

"B-Bye Lucy."

"See ya soon Luce!"

Her team mates all said their goodbyes at the same time. Lucy giggled and waved as Laxus guided her through the front doors.

"Wait here a sec, I forgot something."

"Ok, no problem."

Laxus walked back inside the guild to team Natsu's table and his eyes were locked onto Natsu and Gray. He lifted both of them up by their shirts.

"If I see even one scratch on her when she returns from a mission, I will have your heads, you understand? I don't care if you're her team mates, or my guild mates, I will end you." Laxus glared at the two boys with eyes that promised pain.

"Y-yes sir." They both replied.

"Laxus, you have my word that we will keep Lucy safe, she's nakama and our team mate after all." Erza spoke up, completely calm even though there was a raging dragon slayer not two feet from her.

"You better." Was all he said before he dropped the two boys back into their seats none too gently and walked back out of the guild.

"Damn." Gray muttered as he rubbed his throat. "You'd think he had a thing for her or something."

"Laxus Liiiiikes her." Happy teased as he continued gnawing on his fish, ignoring Natsu's grumbles of pain.

"I believe he does, he just doesn't realize it yet." Erza commented.

"I can't wait to fight him!" Natsu yelled as he stood from his chair, his fist flaming.

Gray and Erza sweat dropped at that and went back to their previous conversation before the interruption that was Laxus.

Mira came up to the three with a letter in her hand. "Was that Lucy that just left? I have a note here from her friend Sepetto. Could you give it to her when she gets back?"

"Of course Mira, it would be my pleasure." Erza said as she took the letter and pocketed it. She smiled, her thoughts being of the two mages that just left through the guild doors.


	10. Neighbors?

Chapter 10: Neighbors?

Laxus and Lucy were enjoying the summer sun as they walked to Laxus' townhouse. Lucy was excited to look at the open unit and the prospect of living close to her best friend. She just hoped she could afford it. She had a feeling she'd be going on a job very soon.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while. Lucy had no idea how near or far Laxus lived from the guild, so she was just enjoying the walk through Magnolia. A lot had changed since she was young, but so much of it had stayed the same. The cobblestone streets and brownstone apartments, the canals with boats floating by, the air had a slightly sweet smell to it, most likely due to the fields of flowers that lay outside of town.

Laxus noticed Lucy taking in all the sights and his heart warmed a bit. He couldn't say it enough, he was glad she was back. He hadn't thought anything through really when he mentioned the townhouse a few doors down from his. He had no idea if she could even afford it now that she was away from home, but it was the first thing that came to mind, and truth be told, he would really like having her close by, especially since she joined team Natsu. Laxus was not too happy about that. He knew Natsu well, and knew that the kid had a one track mind and seemed to be oblivious to everything around him. He was more comfortable with Gray and Erza, but overall he wished he had a chance to ask her to join the Rajinshuu. Granted he didn't know what her skills were like now, but at least he could keep an eye on her.

In the midst of admiring the scenery that was Magnolia, Lucy looked up to see Laxus lost in thought. "Hey you." She nudged his arm.

"Mmh?"

"What's eating you?"

"Nothing." He replied curtly.

Lucy frowned in his direction and her eyes told him she knew that was a lie.

"Fine-I just didn't think about whether you could afford this place or not before I mentioned it. I don't live in a rich part of town or anything, but it's definitely not inexpensive."

"Oh, that's alright. I brought my savings with me that I've put together over the years. If I can't afford this one, I'll find another place."

Laxus grunted in response and they continued walking until Laxus stopped in front of a two story townhouse on a quiet tree lined street. "This is me." He pointed to the unit in front of them. "The one you'll be seeing is two doors down that way." Laxus threw his thumb to his right. Lucy looked in that direction and sure enough, there was a sign that said "For Sale" in the very small but perfectly manicured front lawn.

"Looks like we've got some time to kill, wanna come inside?"

Lucy looked back to where Laxus was, only to see he was already heading up the stairs to his place, his head looking back over his shoulder at the blonde.

"Y-Yea, sure that sounds fine with me." Lucy smiled brilliantly in return and followed his lead.

Once inside, Laxus took off his fur lined coat and hung it up on one of the hooks on the wall. He immediately walked down the long hallway and disappeared. Lucy took her boots off and hung her bag on one of the hooks as well and ventured into the home.

Right in the entryway there was a landing with stairs that led to the second story on the left. To the right was an archway that led into a bright living room space. Lucy walked into it and noticed it seemed really cozy. There was a fireplace on the far wall with a coffee table in front with two large sofa's on either side. By the front living room window sat a big comfy looking chair next to a floor lamp and floor to ceiling book case filled to the brim with random tomes. Lucy brushed her fingers against the spines, curious as to what kind of books the man read. She turned around to see the dining room and kitchen past the sofas. Through the pass through, she could see Laxus putting a kettle on. Their eyes locked with one another's.

"Would you like some tea?"

"Yes please, that would be great."

Laxus nodded in response and started up the stove to warm the kettle. Lucy walked into the kitchen to check it out. It was surprisingly clean and bright. Not that Lucy expected Laxus to be a slob, but he was a twenty something single male, she honestly didn't know what to expect. The counters were gray with white cabinets and the backsplash was a light blue.

"You have a really nice place here. I love it."

Laxus turned away from the stove to face her. "Thanks, I actually don't spend a whole lot of time here so that's why it doesn't seem very lived in." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Laxus rarely let people into his home. One, because he was rarely there himself, and two, he's a very private person. Laxus always had a hard time letting people in, especially after Lucy left the guild. She was the one person that he let his walls down for and she left. Not because she wanted to of course, but it didn't make the hole in his heart any less significant. Sure he had his team, and he did care about them, but not enough to be vulnerable in front of them. And here she was, right in front of him, in his home, and the walls he built up around the deepest parts of himself were starting to crack.

"Well I think it's lovely."

Lucy could see he was uncomfortable, though she wasn't sure why. Laxus had always seemed so confident and sure of himself. In this moment he was anything but.

"You don't invite people over much do you?"

"Is it that obvious?" He chuckled a bit before they heard the familiar sound of the tea kettle. Laxus got their tea ready and handed Lucy her mug. She smiled before lifting it up to her nose to smell the herbs wafting up through the steam before she sighed in content and leaned against the cabinets.

"It is to me, then again I know you. Well-at least I think I know you, if you haven't changed much from childhood and your letters are any indication of your personality."

"Well you're right. I don't." Laxus leaned against the counters opposite of her, with one leg bent up.

"I feel honored that you would show me your home." Lucy took a small sip of her tea to test its temperature.

Laxus smiled. "You're welcome here anytime Lulu." He got up from against the counters and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, Lucy followed. They each took a seat on one of the couches, Lucy setting her mug down on the table in front of her for a moment so she could get comfortable.

"So Lax, can-can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Um okay, well I was just wondering...Why you didn't tell me about what happened to Lisanna?"

Laxus stilled, his mug almost touching his lips before he set it down on the table. His brows slightly furrowed.

"I-I'm sorry Lu. I should've told you. I guess I just didn't want to upset you. I figured you were having a hard enough time as it was dealing with your dad, I didn't want to make it worse. Also, I was an uncaring insensitive teenager who didn't know how to handle the grief himself."

"Well I wish you would have, but I understand why you didn't. Even though I had all the material comforts one could ever want, I was miserable. I didn't have any friends, no one to play with, just my tutors and employees of the Konzern. I suppose that if I had found out then, it would have reminded me of what I had to leave behind and that a friend that I used to have was gone as well. So I-I guess I should thank you for not telling me, but I'm still devastated by the news. The guild won't be the same without her."

"The guild hasn't been the same since you left. Then with Lisanna passing away, it just added to the hell hole that was my late childhood."

"Oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad. Besides the whole incident with your father, the few letters you sent me made it seem like you were happy. Were you not telling me how you really felt?"

Laxus shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "No, it wasn't like that. It's true that my childhood after my dad was excommunicated was rough, but I mostly did it to myself. Whenever I wrote to you, I was happy knowing that I'd hear back from you. So I suppose with that in mind it made my letters more positive. Don't think I wasn't being honest with you."

"Well you can always talk to me about anything, you know that right?" Lucy gave him a look that said 'you better.'

"Yea, yea I got it." Laxus said trying to brush the conversation aside for the time being. He looked over to the wall clock to check the time.

"Looks like it's time to walk over there and meet the Realtor. You ready?"

"One sec." Lucy quickly finished the rest of her tea and set the mug down, taking Laxus' outstretched hand. She grabbed her bag and he grabbed his coat and they made their way out the door.

Once they stepped outside, Lucy noticed a car parked a few doors down, with a guy in a suit leaning against it, briefcase in one hand, cell phone in the other. "Is that your Realtor?"

"Looks like it. Hey Sal."

Laxus said as he waved and walked over to the man.

Said man quickly ended his phone call and walked over to the pair. "Laxus! Good to see you! Interested in buying a rental property here? It would be super convenient." Sal said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"It's not for me. My friend Lucy just moved back into town and is looking for a place." He gestured to Lucy.

"Hi Sal, I'm Lucy, very nice to meet you." The celestial mage held her hand out in greeting.

"Hello Lucy, any friend of Laxus' is a friend of mine." Sal replied smoothly. Lucy blushed in response.

"So shall we take a look at the place?" Sal motioned to the front door. The two mages fell in step behind him. Once the key was in the lock and the door pushed open, Sal let Lucy and Laxus go in first.

"As you can see, it's pretty bare bones right now. But there's a lot of potential. It's a 2 bed, 2 bath, all appliances included, plus there's a balcony off the master bedroom with views of the canal."

Lucy wandered around the empty space, taking it all in. The place really was a blank slate, it needed paint, new flooring, updated light fixtures, the works. And the bad part was, Lucy had no clue how to do any of that.

"I'll let you two take a look around." Sal said as he took his phone out to make another call.

Laxus and Lucy walked upstairs to the bedrooms and took a look around. Same situation as downstairs, new paint, flooring and work on the bathroom was needed.

"Lax, I have no idea how to do any of this stuff. I mean, I love the location and the size but you of all people should know I don't have any experience in home remodeling."

"If you really like it then I'll help you clean it up and make it your own. You're not alone in this Lulu. And if it's not the place for you, then we'll have to look elsewhere."

Lucy sighed, hands on her hips. She was truly torn. Here was a perfect opportunity to start fresh, a true blank slate. But she didn't want to burden Laxus with helping her fix everything up. On the other hand, she liked the fact that she was so close to her best friend. She always felt safe with him around. And then there was the price of this place, she had no idea what it cost. Granted she didn't know what the cost of living in Magnolia even was. This was all so new to her.

"What's on your mind Lu?"

"A lot of things. You sure you wouldn't mind helping me fix this place up and make it livable? I don't want to bother you, it seems like it could be a big project."

"It's no problem, and besides, I'm sure Team Natsu would be happy to help as well. Now the real question is, do you like it?"

"That is an excellent question Laxus." Sal sang as he strolled into the room. "What do you think miss Lucy?"

"How much is this place?"

"The asking price is currently 150 thousand Jewels. A steal in my opinion. The location alone is worth that much."

"If it's such a steal, than why is it still on the market?" Lucy inquired.

Laxus smirked at the Realtor's face after Lucy spoke. He was definitely taken off guard.

"W-Well, I suppose some people think it's too much work, but I can assure you that it's all cosmetic."

Lucy started pacing back and forth in front of the two men weighing her options. After a minute she stopped in front of Sal, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Will the owner of this property take 99 thousand?"

"I'll have to contact him and get back to you on that. Is that your offer?"

"Yes, I'd like to offer 99 thousand-cash." Lucy responded.

Laxus looked between the Realtor and Lucy, just dumbfounded. He didn't know exactly how much was in Lucy's savings that she had brought with her, but it scared him to think she had that much money on her at the moment.

Lucy and the Realtor shook hands. "Alright my dear, I'll contact the owner and we'll be in touch tomorrow."

"Actually, I don't have a way for you to communicate with me."

"Sal, you can give me a call at the guild tomorrow and I'll let her know." Laxus jumped in.

"Ok, that will be fine. Let's make our way out then shall we?" Sal gestured for the two to exit the bedroom and head downstairs.

After they said their goodbyes to Sal, he drove off, leaving Laxus and Lucy to walk back to his place.

"So Lulu-You uh wanna tell me what happened back there?" Laxus stood in front of her with his arms crossed.

"What do you mean? I put a verbal offer on that place! Aren't you excited!?"

"Well, yea I am. But I'd also like to know how you have so much money. Are you carrying it around with you in that bag?"

Lucy looked up to him guiltily. Not really wanting to look him in the eyes.

"You have got to be kidding me! How much do you have Lu?"

"I uh, I-I have 200,000. I started saving it up behind my father's back. I had Sepetto take care of it for me. I knew that one day I'd get out of there and I'd need some money. I have nowhere else to put it right now, it's not like I have a choice at the moment."

Laxus shook his head and sighed. "You do have a point there, but it's really not the best thing to be doing. You should open up a bank account."

Now it was Lucy's turn to sigh. "You're right, but since I'll be hearing from Sal tomorrow maybe I should hold off on that? Can I keep it here at your place?"

"That's fine with me. Speaking of my place, you'll need a place to crash, you can have the spare bedroom tonight if you'd like."

"Lax, I feel bad enough that I'm burdening you with my money, and helping me out with my place, I don't want to add any more on to that."

"You aren't being a burden. I'm just glad to have you back and-and in my life again." He said the last part a little quieter. "You're my best friend Lu, I just want to help you get on your feet again."

Lucy smiled at that, walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I'd do with out you."

Laxus returned the embrace. "Anytime Lu, you know that. Now can we get back to the guild? I've got more paperwork to do courtesy of gramps and he'll have my head if I don't finish it."

Lucy laughed at his impatient tone.

"What's so funny?"

"You. Come on let's head to the guild." Lucy turned and grabbed her keys out of her bag, leaving it under a couch cushion for the time being then went for the door.

Now it was Laxus' turn to chuckle.

"What's that for?" Lucy turned around, a playful look on her face to see Laxus right behind her.

"You. Now chop chop, I don't have all day blondie." He gently placed a hand at the small of her back and nudged her forward.

"you're blonde too you know!" Lucy chided as they walked out, Laxus locking the door behind them.

Tomorrow could be the start of something wonderful, and terrifying at the same time. Laxus could have Lucy Heartfilia for a neighbor. He smirked at the thought as he walked side by side with the celestial mage back to the guild.

Once there, they walked through the guild doors, Laxus headed toward his office to get to work, while Lucy saw Erza at the bar eating some strawberry cake.

"Hi Erza, Where's Natsu and Gray?"

Erza looked up with her mouth full of cake, quickly swallowing it before replying. "They're out back brawling I suppose. It started in here but Master wasn't having it." Erza put her fork down and dug into her pocket to pull out a note.

"Mira gave me this to me to give to you, it's from your friend that came with you yesterday...Sepetto was it? Anyways, it's from her."

"Sepetto? You mean she's not still here?"

"I don't know, but maybe this note will shed some light on that." Erza held out said note waiting for Lucy to take it.

Lucy hesitantly grabbed onto the paper and held it with both hands, not sure if she wanted to open it or not. She looked around the guild hall to see if she could spot her orange hair, but wasn't successful. She hopped onto the bar stool next to Erza and opened the note.

My dear Miss Lucy,

I am so happy that you are back home with Fairy Tail, although I will miss you dearly, I know that this is where you truly belong. After speaking with Master Makarov, I've decided that it's for the best if I leave and go back to the Konzern to give your father my resignation letter. I'm sure I won't be welcome back so I'll be looking for other work. Your master kindly offered me a position here, but I don't think I would be a very good fit. I care for you deeply Lucy and I'm so glad you're happy now.

I hope we'll see each other again in this life,

Joyce Sepetto

"No...Sepetto." Two small tears made their way down each cheek on the celestial mages face. After everything they'd been through, she said goodbye in a letter. Why couldn't she have stayed just a little longer? Lucy pounded her fist into the bar top, startling the requip mage beside her.

"I take it she's not here?"

"No, she left. I've known her since I was a baby and she couldn't even say goodbye to me in person. Plus she's going back to the Konzern of all places! I hope my father doesn't do anything stupid."

"I'm sure she'll be okay Lucy. Have faith." Erza laid her hand over Lucy's clenched fist, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Lucy looked up into the caring eyes of her friend and found solace there. Erza's words were true, all she could do was have faith, so that's what she would do. She couldn't mope around thinking about all the 'what if's'.

"Thank you friend."

"Any time Lucy."

The day had gone by rather smoothly after that. Lucy shared the possible good news about the townhouse, and of course Erza agreed to help with the renovations if she ended up getting the place. Natsu and Gray had come back in from their brawl looking like they were mauled by wyverns and no one even batted an eye, much to Lucy's Team Natsu had agreed to go on a job in three days time, that way Lucy could get everything squared away with her place first. Lucy was beyond excited. This was her first official job as a Fairy Tail Mage and she would show them all just how hard she trained with her spirits all those years.

Lucy and Erza sat at the bar continuing their chat, getting to know one another.

"So where do you plan to stay until you move in to your new place? I could arrange a room for you at the dorms. I'm the RA there."

"Oh, well you see, since Laxus lives so close to my, hopefully new place, he offered me his guest room. I figured that would be easiest for everyone."

Erza's eyes bugged out for a moment before she got a smirk on her face. "You do know why he offered you his guest room right?"

Lucy's confused look told Erza that she didn't.

"He likes you Lucy. He barely lets his own team into his house."

"Well of course he likes me, we're best friends!"

"It's more than that. He likes you in a romantic way."

"Whaaa?!" Now Lucy's eyes were bugging out of her head. "Nooo...he doesn't like me like me, we're best friends, he cares like a best friend would care."

"Think what you want, but all the signs are there. Just do me a favor. If he does anything that makes you uncomfortable, anything inappropriate, you let me know right away and I'll have a, talk with him." Erza's aura went several shades darker and Lucy shivered where she sat.

"S-Sure thing, Erza." She quickly replied, hoping the menacing aura of the woman would disappear.

Just as she said that, she heard a door slam on the upper level and saw Laxus with a scowl plastered on his face coming down the stairs and heading in her direction.

"Hi Laxus-"

"You ready to go? Good, let's head out." He didn't let her finish her sentence as he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the guild.

"Guess I'm going now, bye Erza!" Lucy yelled before the guild doors were shut behind her.

"What was that all about?" Mira asked as she walked over to Erza.

"I'm not sure, but I think I might have an idea." She replied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's the next chapter. I don't know how I feel about it, but I wanted to get something out there and this helps the story along some. Don't worry though, there will be some adventure and romance soon enough. ;)


	11. DIY

The Bond We Share

Chapter 11: DIY

After they had exited the guild doors and were quite a ways away, Lucy pulled her wrist from Laxus' grasp and stopped behind him with her hands on her hips.

"So what was that all about?"

Laxus also stopped when he lost contact with her. He turned around and saw that she definitely wanted an answer. But what could he tell her? That he was actually listening in on her conversation from up on the second floor and then ran into the hallway, slammed a door and made it seem like he was coming out of his office. No he wouldn't tell her that. No way.

"What do you mean?"

Lucy huffed and stood her ground. "You know exactly what I mean. What happened back there?"

"Just some guild work. It's driving me nuts." Laxus was crossing his metaphorical fingers, hoping that his response would get her off his back.

"Come on, let's head back to my place, I'll cook us dinner." As he said this he began walking once more.

Lucy didn't believe his guild work answer one bit. She could see it in his eyes that he wasn't telling her something. However, she decided to put those thoughts aside when he mentioned dinner, and that he'd be cooking it himself.

"Laxus Dreyar, I didn't know you can cook!" Lucy ran to catch up to him.

"Well...I can. But don't go telling everyone." He replied sternly.

Even though his tone of voice said he was serious and Lucy knew that he indeed didn't want everyone knowing he was so...domestic, She also giggled because she couldn't help but think it was cute.

"I'm serious you know." Laxus looked down to the Blonde trying to match his stride.

"I'm well aware. Your secret is safe with me." Lucy smiled and did her best to contain her giggles.

"What's so funny?"

"I just think you're cute, that's all."

"I. Am not. Cute." Laxus replied, trying to retain his strong and fierce image.

"You kind of are."

Laxus let out a warning growl, which Lucy of course didn't take seriously. They continued going back and forth until they reached Laxus' place.

Once they reached the house, Laxus made a b line for the kitchen. Lucy just made herself comfortable on a stool at the counter nearby.

"So what's for dinner?" She asked as she watched him work.

"I was thinking pad thai." He replied, not looking at her but instead getting the ingredients from the surrounding cabinets. He took a skillet and set it on the stove top, poured some oil in and turned on the burner.

"Sounds great!"

So the two conversed as Laxus made dinner. Lucy eventually joining him and learning a thing or two. She really never had to cook a day in her life, so this was a great opportunity to learn. Once dinner was ready they moved to the dining room, conversing about everything really. Mostly Lucy couldn't help but talk about her potential home. She already had an idea of how she wanted to remodel it.

Then Laxus heard his Lacrima buzzing. He went over to his coat and fished it out of the pocket.

"Yeah."

"Laxus! It's Sal, how ya doin'?"

"How are you using a lacrima? I didn't think you were a mage." Laxus queried.

"Well, uh they just came out with a new version that allows non mages to use it." Sal replied with a nervous look in his eyes.

Laxus noticed this but for the sake of time chose to file it away. "Whatever. What's up Sal?"

"Oh! Yes. Well I spoke to the owner of the property and he has agreed to the price of 99,000 Jewels. If you and your friend could meet me at my office tomorrow, say 10am? We can sign the paperwork and the place will be hers!"

"Ok, we'll see you tomorrow then." Laxus said as he abruptly ended the call.

Lucy shot out of her seat and squealed with delight as she ran over to Laxus, tackling him in a hug. Of course he didn't even move from his spot, but that didn't lessen the intensity of said hug.

"Lax, I'm buying a house!" she yelled out in joy.

Laxus couldn't help but share in the blonde's happiness and a small smile tugged at his lips.

"That you are." He replied as he hugged her back.

The next few weeks went by without a hitch. Lucy purchased the town house and went on her first job with team Natsu. A week went by and the four mages entered the guildhall all bandaged and beat up. Laxus was not so patiently waiting for her return. He had just gotten back from a quick solo mission of his own and decided he wouldn't leave the guild that day until Lucy showed up.

Several hours later and he witnessed their slow and painful looking entrance. He growled so loud that everyone, including team Natsu looked his way. When his eyes met with Natsu and Gray, the two guys both gulped and sat down at the table furthest away from the lightning slayer. Lucy noticed this and decided to nip things in the bud and started limping her way over to the burly and crabby looking slayer.

"Hey Lax, what was that about?" She asked tiredly as she slowly sat down in the chair next to him.

Again, what could he say? That when he saw the only woman he's ever really cared about enter the guild looking like she'd been tossed around like a rag doll, the only thing he wanted to do was rip the heads of her team mates off of their bodies? No he couldn't say that.

"Nothing."

Lucy hummed knowingly. She had a sneaking suspicion that the man wasn't telling her something. She never forgot what Erza mentioned to her a few weeks ago. It's always been in the back of her mind. She still had a hard time believing it, but because of moments like this, she was rethinking that position. It didn't help that she also started to have a tiny crush on the pink haired dragon slayer she called her team mate. His boyish good looks in combination with his free spirit and positive attitude were definitely attractive qualities. Lucy started feeling quite conflicted. She'd never had these sorts of feelings before and had no idea what to do with them.

"So what are your plans for today?"

Laxus looked over to her, to see her bruised face and arms. His inner dragon roared in anger at her being hurt. What was his plan? What he wanted to do was take Lucy back to his place and take care of her. Also, maybe not let her out of his house ever again. But knowing Lucy, that would never fly.

"Don't know yet."

Lucy laid her hand atop his. and an alluring smile appeared on her face. "Well, I've got some paint cans and brushes with our names on 'em back at my place. I'll order pizza." Lucy sang, trying to convince him.

The smirk on her face and the offer of pizza was hard to resist, but looking at her made him realize that what she really needed was rest.

"Don't you think you've done enough work for a while?"

Lucy playfully slapped him on the shoulder. "Oh I'm fine. Just a few cuts and scrapes. Besides, I can get a good two hour nap in before we head over. Please? I just want to spend time with you. I haven't seen or talked to you for a week!"

Laxus looked back up to those pleading chocolate brown eyes of hers and knew he was doomed.

"Fine. sounds good to me."

"Great! I'm going to head to your place to get some sleep for a while. Meet me over at my place at 6pm?"

Laxus nodded and Lucy smiled back, slowly getting up from her seat and limping her way to Laxus' house. He watched her leave the guild with a smirk on his face. Even though she had just returned from what seemed to be a rather difficult job, she still had the energy and motivation to work on her house. Granted he still needed to learn more about how that job went, he was impressed by her attitude and inner strength.

Since he had accomplished his task of seeing Lucy return, he made his way back to his office to continue some mundane guild paperwork. More than likely he would have some damage reports and apology letters to write thanks to team Natsu.

5:30pm rolled around and Laxus finished up his last stack of paperwork. He grabbed his cloak and walked out of his office, heading to his place to change. When he reached his house he walked in and looked around for Lucy.

"Lulu? You in here?" He called as he walked through the home and upstairs to his room. He took a peek into his spare room that had become Lucy's over the course of the last few weeks, to see it empty. Her things starting to be packed up. They had done a lot of work on the place and soon, she'd be able to move in. Laxus was of course not all that happy about it. He had grown fond of having Lucy around but he knew that she felt like a burden and that she'd be happier to have a place of her own.

He moved into his room and changed into a pair of ripped jeans and an old white tshirt that clung to his body like a second skin. After grabbing a bottle of wine from his pantry, he walked over to Lucy's place.

A knock on the door shook the celestial mage out of her thoughts as she rummaged through a box of painting supplies.

She skipped over to the door and opened it to see a slightly tired looking dragon slayer.

"Hi Laxy!" She chirped.

"Hey. Thought I'd bring some wine." He handed her the bottle.

"Great, thanks! I'll put it on the counter. I'll place the order for the pizza if you'd like to bring the box of brushes and paint trays up to the master bedroom. No anchovies right?"

Laxus nodded and moved to pick up the box and walked upstairs, glancing at Lucy's backside as she leaned against the table in the dining room, busy calling the pizza place.

A few minutes later, Lucy poked her head into her future bedroom to see Laxus already setting down drop cloths on the floor and mixing the paint.

"What do you think of the color?" She bent down to be eye level with him.

As Laxus continued to stir the paint, he thought how best to answer that question. It was blue, but not just any blue. It wasn't Navy, pastel, or a bright blue. The color was cool but inviting, unique and familiar. Just like the woman in front of him.

"It's nice." He replied as he kept stirring.

Lucy smiled and grabbed two paint trays. Laxus poured some of the paint into both and they both grabbed a brush and began.

"So, what was the job you came back from?"

Lucy stopped her motions for a moment to look over to him, guilt written on her features. "W-Well, Natsu stole an S-class mission from the S-class board. W-We went to Galuna Island and ended up fighting Deliora, who I learned after the fact was a demon of an evil wizard named Zeref."

It was Laxus' turn to stop his brush strokes. He looked over to her with one eyebrow raised. His face stern. "So Flame brain was the one who stole that mission. My team was going to take that one. Were you successful?"

"Yes. Gray did a lot of it, but we all helped out. I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I found out. I wouldn't have gone if I had known it was an S-class mission."

"Considering this was you're first real job and you survived, I'm impressed. But I don't want you doing it again unless you achieve S-class status."

"Aw, were you worried about me Lax?" Lucy cooed as she went back to painting.

Laxus' cheeks sported a slight blush and he looked away from the blonde. "I-I just don't want you getting hurt."

Lucy then went to put more paint on her brush, she set it down for a moment and pushed the hair out of her eyes, then looked back to Laxus.

He turned to her when he saw her movements, and noticed she was facing him now. "I can't say I trust the flame ass and ice princess to be there for you. Erza on the other hand, I'm not as worried since she's there, but never the less, they are a very destructive and sometimes reckless team."

"Well, we completed an S-class job and came back with just a few bumps and bruises, and the island is still intact, so I'd say it was a success."

Laxus then noticed the smudge of paint on her face. He walked up to her, so they were almost touching.

"You've got something on your face."

Lucy scrunched up her brows in confusion. "Where?"

"Your left cheek."

Lucy then brought her hand up to her cheek and tried rubbing it off, but ended up missing the spot.

"Nope, it's still there."

She tried once more and still missed where the spot was on her cheek.

"Here, I'll get it." Laxus then cupped her face and rubbed the spot with his thumb. He was able to clean the paint off her face right away, but kept brushing his thumb over the same spot for a bit, both mages looking into each others eyes.

Lucy was mesmerized by his eyes. Those icy blue orbs the colors of glacial waters pulling her into their depths. She would never mention that the blue she chose for her bedroom reminded her of his eyes. She soon realized the position they were in and backed away, a bit flustered and with a blush on her cheeks.

"W-We should get back to painting." She then bent down to grab her brush.

"Looks like you missed a spot." Laxus commented walking over to where she was painting. He picked up his own brush and brought it over to the area he spotted, Lucy right by his side trying to see it. Without realizing it, when he put the brush up to the wall and began his stroke, the bristles flicked out, flinging paint onto Lucy's light pink tank top. He froze when he noticed it and looked over to the blonde who had blue speckles on her shirt, and face.

They stood there for a minute, looking at each other in silence, before Lucy got a devious smirk on her face and flicked the bristles on her own brush, getting paint specks on Laxus.

He was not expecting that, but seeing the look on Lucy's face, he decided to get in on the game. He lunged towards her and and smudged the brush against her face, right where he had removed some paint not moments ago.

The chase had begun. The two were now in a paint war and both were out for blood. They chased each other across the room, paint flying everywhere. They were covered head to toe in paint flecks and splotches. Laxus decided to go for the winning move. He cornered Lucy and pinned her against the wall. Lucy squirmed trying to escape but Laxus wasn't having it. Her giggles and squeaks too adorable to want to quit. He moved the paint brush that was in his right hand and brushed it over her chin, right below her lips.

Lucy was breathing heavily, not just from running around the room, but from being pinned to the wall by an attractive dragon slayer. She saw the mirth in his eyes but also saw something else. Was it desire? Longing maybe?

"You've got some paint on your face." He said huskily as he put his own paint covered fingers to her chin and lifted it up. Without any warning he brought his face closer to hers and their lips met in a passionate kiss. They both dropped their paint brushes to the floor, Lucy bringing her hands up to his chest, clenching the fabric of his shirt in her fists, while Laxus brought both hands up to her face and began threading them through her hair.

The electricity in the room was palpable. Lucy had never felt like this before. She had never actually been kissed before, but in this moment she was sure nothing could ever top this one.

Laxus enjoyed the taste of her on his tongue, the softness of her lips was addicting and he couldn't get enough. He was now wishing there was an actual bed in this bedroom.

Eventually the two parted for some much needed air, both breathing heavily. Laxus leaned his forehead against Lucy's.

Trying to find his voice, he figured now was an opportune time to share his feelings with the blonde.

"Lucy...I..."

*DING DONG*

"T-That would be the pizza. I-I'll be right back." Lucy stuttered as she slid out from his embrace and scurried out the bedroom doors and down the stairs.

Laxus stood in the room for a moment, trying to regain his composure. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. Slightly hunched over, feeling somewhat defeated, he too went downstairs. He would have to wait for another day.

When he reached the living room, Lucy had just closed the front door, holding four pizza boxes in her hands, her face hidden behind them.

"Here, let me get those." Laxus spoke as he moved towards her.

"No no, that's okay. I've got it." She said as she maneuvered through the space, trying not to trip over any boxes.

Laxus sighed and made sure nothing was in her path as she moved to the one piece of furniture in the house, the dining room table. She set the boxes down and went into the kitchen. She came back out with paper plates, napkins and red solo cups.

"Sorry, I don't have any wine glasses yet, so these will have to do."

"Fine by me." Laxus replied, opening one of the boxes and taking out several slices.

They ate in uncomfortable silence until Lucy decided enough was enough. "Lax, I..."

"I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He tried finishing for her.

Lucy looked up from her plate, a blush tinting her cheeks. "I was going to say...well, I-I kind of liked it." She then took a sip of her wine to hide her face.

Laxus' eyes widened as her sentence registered in his brain, then a smirk began to form.

"I enjoyed it too Lulu."

After that, they finished eating in a comfortable silence. Both happy to know they both enjoyed the kiss just as much as the other.

After dinner, they went back upstairs to finish painting, talking about jobs, and the guild.

When they finished, they cleaned everything up and put it back in boxes, locked up and walked the short distance to Laxus' place. Once inside, Lucy went upstairs straight away, calling to Laxus as she went up.

"I'm going to take a bath."

Laxus nodded and went upstairs himself to change out of his paint stained clothes. He laid on his bed in his underwear, mulling over what happened at Lucy's place. A smile formed on his face as he remembered the moment. He had never felt such pleasure and excitement when kissing a woman, and he had to admit, he'd kissed his fair share of women. His inner dragon, which he'd only recently got used to, was urging him to do something about these feelings for the celestial mage and he had no idea what it all meant. Why a relationship with Lucy would have anything to do with him being a dragon slayer was beyond him. But he had to admit he liked the idea of a relationship with Lucy, he liked it a lot. But it also scared the shit out of him. He didn't want to lose their friendship, their bond that they had created through out the years. She meant more to him than he could express, and if he ruined what they now had because of his own stupidity he didn't know if he would be able to handle it.

He got up and decided a drink would help calm his nerves, without bothering to put any clothes on, he began walking down the hallway. As he passed the door to the bathroom, it opened and steam poured out, when it cleared he was face to face with Lucy in nothing but a towel. Even though they had been living together for a few weeks, this was the first time that either of them had been so careless as to forget their clothes. Laxus' eyes roved her glistening skin, slightly pink from the warm bath. Her damp hair still dripping down to the towel that covered her breasts. Laxus visibly gulped.

Lucy was not doing any better. She had also eye fucked the lightning mage in front her, enjoying his chiseled chest and the delicious v shape that became hidden by his boxer briefs. Her mind wandering to what was underneath them.

Laxus was the first one to come out of his lust filled stupor. "I-I was just going to get a drink." He pointed his thumb towards the staircase and then quickly walked away.

Lucy stood in the doorway of the bathroom frozen in place. They had just seen each other almost naked, and she enjoyed it. She was more conflicted now then ever. She cared for Laxus in a way that was practically indescribable, yet somehow, that care was turning into much more than friendship. Then there was Natsu, who was becoming such a good friend to her, always willing to help out and making her laugh. Lucy sighed and made her way to the spare bedroom, shutting the door as she went inside.

After his drink, Laxus himself jumped in the shower, relishing the warmth, and happy Lucy hadn't used all the hot water. His mind went back to the blonde bombshell that was currently his roommate. The image of her in that towel permanently burned in his mind. The image soon changed to a naked Lucy pleasuring herself. Laxus took hold of his stiffening member and began to massage it, picturing the blonde on top of him now, her breasts bouncing when he would thrust himself into her. Before he knew it his cock was rock hard and throbbing. With one more thrust into his hand he grunted loudly and came, the evidence washing down the shower drain.

He looked down to his dick and then looked back up to the shower wall. "Did I just get off to my best friend?" He said quietly to himself. Yes, he most certainly did.

Feeling angry with himself, he punched the shower wall. "Damn it!"

In her room Lucy could hear his grunting and yelling. She was concerned, but she also figured he wanted to be left alone, so she ignored it and went back to her book. Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Lucy answered.

Laxus hesitantly opened the door and stepped inside, now wearing a pair of black sleep pants and a clean white shirt.

"Hey Lu." He came to the edge of her bed and took a seat on it, not wanting to look her in the eyes.

"You okay?" Lucy asked as she put a bookmark in the book she was reading and set it down.

Laxus grunted nervously as his response. "I actually wanted to let you know I'm heading out on a long mission tomorrow with my team. I'll be gone for about a month, maybe more."

"Oh, what time tomorrow?" Lucy asked, disappointed that he would be gone for so long.

"The train leaves at 10am."

Lucy looked down to the book in her lap. "Well, I'll make sure I'm up to see you off then." She smiled at him.

"I also got you this." Laxus pulled something out of his pants pocket. "This way we can keep in contact somewhat. Although I'm not sure how often I'll be able to contact you."

Lucy took the communication lacrima into her hands, admiring it. "Thanks Laxy, I really appreciate it." She then crawled over the bed to hug him.

"By the way, I-I'm sorry about earlier." He mumbled, so soft Lucy barely heard it.

"It's okay, I'm not offended if that's what you think. It was just an accident." She reassured.

Laxus nodded. "Goodnight Lulu." He kissed the top of her head before getting up and walking out.

"Goodnight Laxy." Lucy crawled back to the head of her bed and resumed reading her book. Both mages not looking forward to the month they would have to spend apart, but they both needed the time to determine just what was going on between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is! A little Lalu fluff for you!


	12. Phantom

Chapter 12: Phantom

Lucy woke up to her alarm blaring. She turned over and lifted her heavy lids to see the time. 7:30AM. She groaned and turned off the alarm with her fist. Lucy was never a morning person, but since Laxus was going away on a job for a month, the least she could do was get up early and make him some breakfast before he left. Stretching her tired limbs, Lucy swung her legs over the side of her bed, bringing her hand up to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She grabbed a pair of shorts sitting on top of one the boxes in her room and trudged into the bathroom. While brushing her teeth, Lucy's mind went for a walk, thinking about the delicious dream she had that involved her current roommate. Who was she kidding? She was definitely attracted to her best friend. That fact was no longer in doubt. The problem was, what would she do about it? Did he feel the same? She didn't want to ruin their friendship, and the kiss they shared last night definitely complicated things. And what about Natsu? Her growing feelings for the pink haired slayer were also troubling. She hoped that this time away from Laxus would help straighten things out for her.

After rinsing and putting her star necklace on, Lucy padded down the hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen. She had decided on bacon, eggs and pancakes. She had learned how to make all three from Laxus, but this would be the first attempt at making them without his assistance. They had to be perfect, this would be the last meal he would eat at home for a month.

Laxus had been tossing and turning in his bed for an hour, trying to ignore his body's request to wake up. His alarm hadn't even gone off yet, couldn't he get at least a little more sleep? He looked over to the clock to see it read 8:15AM. He sighed and decided he might as well get up. As he started getting out of the bed, he smelled the pleasing aroma of breakfast foods wafting into his room. He smiled to himself, knowing it was Lucy most likely making him breakfast. The thought warmed his heart. He loved the idea of waking up every morning with her, to have her making breakfast in his kitchen. He wasn't happy about having to leave for a whole month, but the reward alone was worth it. With new motivation, he got out of bed, dressed in his typical mission outfit, Maroon pants and a black tshirt. He grabbed his coat from his closet and made his way downstairs.

As he reached the middle of the upstairs hallway, he could hear a feminine voice singing a melody. He had no idea Lucy could sing, she sounded pretty good too. He picked up his pace and went down the stairs, he turned into the main hallway and went towards the kitchen, he stopped in the entryway, just watching her. Her hips were swaying to a beat in her head, spatula in hand, she was flipping pancakes while singing an enchanting melody. He also didn't fail to notice she was still in her pj's. An oversized tshirt that exposed her left shoulder, with tight black shorts that stopped just below her ass. He was surprised that she didn't hear him come down the stairs, but he wasn't about to announce his presence just yet, he was enjoying this too much.

After a few minutes of standing in the entrance to the kitchen, smelling the wonderful aroma of food and watching Lucy he realized he was quite hungry. With that thought in mind, he knew just the thing that would get her attention.

He started clapping. Slowly.

Lucy halted her song and dance, the spatula she was using to scramble the eggs dropped on the counter. She slowly turned to see Laxus smirking at her and sexily leaning against the wall.

Lucy's face turned beet red. "H-How long have you been here?"

"Long enough. Nice moves Lulu. Didn't know you could sing either."

Lucy's blush got deeper, if that was even possible, and she looked at the ground to avoid his gaze. Laxus thinking she was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.

"I-I don't really. It's just a habit, sometimes I forget I'm even doing it."

"Well maybe you should do both more often."

Lucy laughed uncomfortably and decided she would change the subject.

"I made you breakfast, eggs and bacon are ready, I'm just finishing the pancakes. Want some OJ?"

Laxus nodded and made his way to the fridge. Lucy quickly cut him off and closed the door. "Oh no you don't! Go sit at the table and I'll bring you everything."

Laxus smirked. "Whatever you say Lu." He turned around and walked out of the kitchen only to take a seat at the breakfast bar.

Lucy reopened the fridge and took out the juice, walking to the cabinets, she got on her tip toes to grab a glass, Laxus admiring her the entire time. She poured it and brought it over to him.

"Thanks." He said as he took a long drink from it, almost finishing the whole thing. Lucy smiled warmly and went back to the fridge, pulling out the carton of orange juice and setting it down next to his glass. She then went back to the stove and began plating up his breakfast and her own. Within a minute she brought both plates over, Laxus' filled sky high with food, and a glass for herself.

She poured herself some juice and waited as Laxus took the first bite. She was bursting with anticipation. She hoped she made everything right.

As Laxus chewed, he closed his eyes and a soft smile filled his face.

Lucy waited until he swallowed.

"So? What do you think?"

"It's not bad. Not bad at all."

Lucy smiled at the compliment and began to eat her own breakfast.

"So what's this job you're going on?"

Laxus bit off a piece of bacon and waited until he finished chewing. "The council wants us to investigate several disappearances in some towns east of clover. They think a dark guild is involved."

"Why will it take a month though?"

Laxus shrugged. "Not sure, that's just what they said. Hopefully it won't take that long, but we'll need to go to each town and do our own investigation of each individual disappearance as well as try and track an unknown dark guild."

Lucy nodded her head in understanding. "I hope it doesn't take the full month either."

Laxus looked up from his plate and smiled for a moment before a thought popped in his head which made his brows slightly furrow.

"What's up Laxy?"

"About last night, I just wanted to say I'm sorry...again."

Lucy cocked her head to the side in confusion. "But why? I accepted your apology yesterday. Besides, you weren't the only one staring." She blushed once more.

Laxus chuckled a little. "Yea, well after our little moment at your place yesterday I didn't want to you have the wrong impression about me."

"And what impression might that be?"

"That all I'm after is a good lay."

Lucy giggled a bit, she couldn't see Laxus as the type to do something like that, although she supposed she didn't know him as well as she used to. "So that's not what you're after with me?"

"No. Although I'm not going to lie, I have thought about it. But...you mean more to me than that."

Lucy's blush steadily got deeper.

"Look, when I get back, let's go out to dinner."

She looked up to him with a slightly shocked expression.

"Like-like a date?"

"Sure, I mean-if you want it to be." Laxus rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness. "Shit, I'm not good at this kind of thing."

Lucy started giggling, she found it endearing that Laxus was nervous when it came to situations like this, he was normally so confident and sure of himself.

"Ok, when you get back, we'll go to dinner."

Laxus smirked. "Good. Thanks for breakfast Lulu, I'm going to start packing."

Lucy nodded and watched him go back upstairs. She figured one date wouldn't hurt their friendship, besides it might help them figure out their feelings for each other. She began picking up the plates and starting the dishes.

It was 9:30AM by the time she heard his footsteps on the stairs. She watched as he descended, with a backpack over his shoulder. She walked up to the front door to see him off.

"You'll call me won't you?"

"Hopefully, we'll see how the job goes."

"I'll miss you, you know."

Laxus put a hand on her shoulder and used his thumb and finger to lift her chin up to look at her. "Likewise."

Lucy smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She had a deep seated fear, although unfounded, that she wouldn't see him again.

Laxus then leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. The electricity ran down Lucy's spine as their lips touched. She had never felt anything like it. Kissing Laxus defied explanation.

When they parted, Lucy's eyes were half lidded and her cheeks a decent shade of pink. Laxus' signature smirk was back on his face.

"Take care of yourself Lulu. Don't listen to anything those idiots at the guild tell you about me."

Lucy laughed. "Why? Is there something I should know?"

"Nope."

"Well okay then. By the way, when you get back, I'll have probably moved into my place."

Laxus' smirk left his face for a split second, then reappeared. "Well, I'll know where to find you then. Bye Lu."

"Bye."

Laxus winked at her then walked out the door, Lucy closed it and leaned her back against it, slowly sliding down to the floor with a smile on her face.

Two weeks had gone by and Lucy had just finished hanging up the last of the drapes in her new house, with Natsu's help. Well, help was a loose term for it, considering she had to go and by two more pairs after he accidentally set fire to them. That's what she was currently doing. She and Natsu were walking back from the store, with drapes in hand, Lucy laughing at some ridiculous joke Natsu made. Happy flying in between them.

She was enjoying her time with Natsu. He could be quite oblivious at times, but she found that endearing in it's own way. He had a kind soul and always fought for his friends when they needed him.

As they were walking by the park with the Sakura tree in the middle of town, the one she was so familiar with, she noticed a large crowd surrounding the tree.

"What's going on over there?"

"Not sure, let's check it out!" Natsu fist pumped, subsequently dropping the drapes on the ground.

"Aye Sir!" Happy saluted and the two of them started to head for the park.

Lucy coughed to get their attention. "Could you pick up the drapes first?"

"Oh yea, sorry about that Luce." Natsu went back and put the drapes over his shoulder then ran over to the park. Lucy trailing behind.

Once the both got down to the crowd, they had to push and shove their way in.

"Excuse me, coming through. We're Fairy Tail mages, what seems to be the problem?" Lucy asked as she tried parting the crowds. No one would say a thing, all she could hear were whispers and murmurs.

The she got to the front and looked up to the tree. It was now her turn to drop the drapes she was carrying. Lucy cried out in surprise and fear. "LEVY!"

There on the tree, Levy, Jet and Droy were pinned up. They were bruised, bleeding and barely conscious.

"Oh hell no! Whoever did this is going to pay!" Natsu shouted, his fist engulfed in flames. He turned to face the crowd. "Who did this? Show yourself!"

Lucy walked up to the tree and held onto Levy's foot. "Oh Levy, how did this happen?" She shed some tears and then composed herself, she needed to be strong now and to help her friends up on that tree. She remembered that she now had that communication lacrima that Laxus had given her. She took it out of her pocket and held it up, pushing magic into and thinking of master Makarov.

Soon enough the worn face of Fairy Tail's master came into view.

"Master! Something terrible has happened. Please come to the park as soon as you can, it's an emergency!" Lucy wailed.

"Calm down, calm down. What's happening child?" Makarov urged, sensing Lucy's distress.

"Levy, Jet, Droy, they're..." She then lifted up the lacrima so Makarov could see for himself. She held it up for a few moments before she brought it back down to her face.

Makarov's expression was grim. "I'll be right there." He disconnected the call.

Lucy put the lacrima back in her pocket. "It's okay Natsu, master is on his way."

Natsu just ignored her and kept yelling to the crowd surrounding them. "If any of you know who did this you better speak up!"

Lucy came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Natsu, I doubt anyone here did this. There seems to be a guild mark branded on Levy's stomach."

Natsu turned to her, his face scrunched up in confusion. "A guild mark?" He walked past her to the tree and looked up to the three mages pinned there. There was indeed a mark on Levy's stomach in the shape of an eye with two spikes coming out the lower part of it, and a swirl coming down and looping once. Natsu thought it was familiar put couldn't place it.

"Make way, coming through! Get out of my way!" Shouts could be heard from farther back in the crowd. Soon enough the crowd parted to reveal Makarov, Erza, Elfman and Mirajane.

The four of them stilled when they took in the sight of their nakama pinned to the tree. Makarov's fists clenched and his magic sparked up around him.

"First they destroy our guild hall and now they injure my children! No one messes with Fairy Tail like this! This. Is. War!"

Lucy walked around to Erza's side. "Someone destroyed our guildhall?"

"Yes, last night, the guild hall was ran through with hundreds of iron beams. Master seems to think it's the work of black steel Gajeel of Phantom Lord. Seeing their guild mark on Levy would seem to confirm that suspicion."

Lucy gasped and covered her mouth. She's not even back for a few months and already the guild hall was destroyed and her friends were getting injured. What was happening?

After the commotion died down, the three mages were taken off the tree and sent to Magnolia hospital, there was a wing there specifically to treat mages. Lucy hadn't left Levy's side.

She sat next to Levy's bed, stroking her soft blue hair, watching her rest. She wondered who could do this? Who could do this to such a sweet and loving soul? Her anger started boiling up inside of her once again. She couldn't just stand by while her nakama were brutally injured. She had to do something.

"Don't worry Levy, you'll be okay. We'll get whoever did this to you three, they'll regret messing with Fairy Tail." Lucy whispered. She got out of her chair and headed for the door. She took one more look back to her three friends in their hospital beds, a few tears strayed down her cheeks. Now that she was back, she would do everything she could for her nakama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy my take on the phantom lord arc! :D
> 
> Reviews and suggestions are welcome! I'm new to the fanfic world (in terms of writing them) and any advice is appreciated!
> 
> Thank you friends!
> 
> ~Pamgie


	13. Taken By Surprise

Chapter 13: Taken By Surprise

Lucy softly closed the door to shadow gear's room and walked down the hall to the elevator. As she passed by the nurses station she saw nurse Clara who had been assigned to her friends.

"Hi Clara, if Levy wakes up while I'm gone, will you let her know I'll be back later today?"

The nurse looked up from her paperwork to smile warmly at Lucy. "Of course Lucy, no problem."

"Thanks!" Lucy waved as she continued towards the elevator.

Once outside the hospital doors, she started heading towards the direction of her guildhall. Master had asked for the entire guild to meet to plan their next steps in regards to Phantom Lord. Lucy took purposeful strides towards her destination, Levy, Jet and Droy on her mind. She couldn't fathom why phantom would do any of this. What had fairy tail done to them? Even though she just recently rejoined the guild, in all her years of knowing fairy tail, she knew it was a guild based on family, friendship and comraderie. What could they possibly have against them?

As she was preoccupied by her thoughts she didn't realize that she was being followed. Lucy had decided to take back roads to get to the guild faster. It wasn't until it started to rain a little that she was pulled from her thoughts.

"That's weird, it was sunny just a minute ago."

Then she felt a presence behind her. Lucy turned around and saw a woman with blue hair, carrying a pink umbrella with hearts on it. Her eyes locked onto the celestial mage.

"Drip drip, drop." She spoke as she approached the blonde.

"What?"

"Drip drip, drop." She spoke again. Now walking past Lucy and standing a few feet in front of her.

"Who are you?" Lucy spoke. She had the feeling this wasn't going to be a friendly encounter.

"Juvia is the rain woman." The mysterious blue haired woman replied. Her face void of any emotion.

"What are you talking about? Could you step aside please? I have to be somewhere." Lucy walked toward the woman her hand brushing her keys.

"Juvia cannot do that. Juvia has come for you Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy froze. "How do you know my name?"

"It is Juvia's job to know. Juvia is here to bring you to her master."

Lucy's eyes got wide. Now she was sure this was no accidental encounter. She went to grab her keys, but before she could take one off of her key ring she was knocked down hard and her keys were thrown somewhere out of sight. She looked up to see a man with green hair that stood on end, a monocle over his right eye.

"Non non non, we can't have you fighting back now mademoiselle." The man spoke with a french accent.

"Juvia, stop wasting time. The master wants the target in his keeping immediately." The green haired man slithered over to his apparent accomplice.

"Juvia is not wasting time." The woman spoke.

"Okay, will you two tell me who the hell you are and what's going on?" Lucy spoke as she rose up from the ground, rubbing her arm that scrapped against the paved brick street.

"Pardon me mademoiselle. How inconsiderate of us to not introduce ourselves. I am sol, and this is Juvia the rain woman. We are half of the element four, Phantom Lord's strongest team. We were hired to capture you."

"yea, I don't think so buddy." Lucy once again reached for her keys but realized immediately that they were no where to be found.

"Non non non, don't try to fight back miss, you'll only hurt yourself." Sol cooed.

Lucy lunged for the pair, hoping that she could get them by surprise. Then she heard the one called Juvia shout out. "Water lock!"

Lucy was encased in a floating bubble of water. she thrashed and tried to scream but realized she could easily drown if she opened her mouth.

"That's better. Come Juvia, let's take our leave of this pitiful town."

Juvia nodded and followed Sol out of Magnolia, with Lucy trapped in her water magic floating behind.

Back at Fairy Tail, everyone had gathered around Master Makarov.

Natsu stood there with his fists flaming. "Come on guys! We can't let them get away with this! I say we go to their guild hall and show them no one messes with Fairy Tail!"

The other mages shouted out in agreement.

"For once I feel the same way son. No one, and I mean no one harms our nakama, my children, and gets away with it. If phantom lord wants a war, then they'll get one!" Makarov shouted, his magic radiating around him.

All the guild members shot up their hands in the air with the Fairy Tail salute.

"Let's go!"

With the Master's vote of confidence, the entire guild, minus the Rajinshuu, Shadow Gear, Mystogan, Gildarts and Mira, ran off towards Phantom Lord's guild in Oak town.

Over in Oak Town, the mages of phantom were drinking and brawling in their spacious guild hall. Not unlike a normal day in Fairy Tail.

"I heard Gajeel got to take out three of those fairy whimps on his own." One random mage said.

"Yea, that's no fair, I want a shot at those losers myself!"

A loud explosion was heard and smoke filled the guild hall. When it cleared a horde of Fairly Tail mages stood where the doors once were, led by Master Makarov himself.

"Fairy Tail has come calling!" He shouted to the rafters. A huge roar resounded and the battle commenced. Natsu came barreling in, breathing fire and punching out mages left and right. Gray was using his ice make magic to shoot lances. Biscka and Alzac were up in the rafters picking off mages. Wakaba, Macau, Cana, Laki and Elfman were knee deep in the fight as well.

"Erza, you watch things down here. I've got business to take care of with Jose." Makarov boomed as he increased in size and made his way up the stairs, cracking the stone steps with his magical power.

Once he reached the last door on the top floor of the guild, Makarov kicked it in.

"JOSE! How dare you hurt my children and destroy my guild hall. You will pay dearly for this.!"

"Oh, well hello Makarov. Nice of you to finally show up. I was getting bored."

Makarov yelled out in anger and threw a giant punch in the direction of the shadow mage, when the smoke and debris cleared, he could still see Jose perfectly, and not a scratch was on him, he noticed that he seemed distorted somehow and snorted in disgust.

"A transmission!? You arent' even here! How cowardly. Come and face me!" Makarov yelled.

"Now now, Why would I want to do that? I've already had your guild hall torn to shreds and I have exactly what I came for, there's no need to dirty my hands any further." Just then an image appeared below Jose of Lucy laying face down on the ground, her hands bound behind her back.

"Lucy!" Makarov screamed at seeing the blonde unconscious.

"Explain yourself Jose."

"I suppose I should, shouldn't I? Well, you see this princesses' father contacted me and paid my guild quite handsomely to bring her home. It was just the excuse I needed to take care of you fairies once and for all. Now that I think about it though, I could just keep her and blackmail the man for his riches."

A magic circle appeared from Jose's hand, directed at Lucy's prone body.

"No!" Makarov shouted.

Just then a hulking figure appeared from behind the fairy tail master. "It's so sad!"

Makarov turned, facing the tall man with a blind fold over his eyes.

"What the hell, where did you come from?"

"It's so sad that the world has to lose such a great wizard." Suddenly Makarov screamed in pain as the man unleashed his magic on him, he was pushed through the floor and fell from the rafters to the hall below. All the fighting stopped as everyone heard the crash.

"Is that the master?" one Fairy Tail mage asked. Erza stopped mid sword fight and rushed over to the scene and saw Makarov shriveled up with a green tint to his skin, muttering to himself.

"Master! Master can you hear me?" Erza shouted as she picked him up and rested his head in her lap.

"My magic, it's gone. It's all gone. And Lucy..have...to...find...L-Lucy."

"Master are you alright? What happened to you? What about Lucy?" Natsu, Gray and Elfman also ran over.

As the Fairy Tail mages went to their master's side, black steel Gajeel crouched on one of the rafters. He was soon joined by a fellow guild mate.

"Aria, I take it this is your handiwork?" Gajeel smirked.

"Yes, it's so sad. Such a great wizard." Aria cried.

"Stop your blubbering, you baby. By the way, how'd it go with that Lucy girl?"

Natsu heard Lucy's name being spoken with his heightened sense of hearing, he looked up to the source of the voice to see a tall muscular man with a dark black mane of hair that could only be Gajeel.

"The plan was successful, she was captured and is at our main headquarters." Aria replied, tears flowing from under his blind fold like a river.

"Oh Hell no!" Natsu yelled out. "They've kidnapped Lucy!"

Erza meanwhile was trying to round up the troops to retreat, since master Makarov was out for the count they didn't want to take any chances.

Natsu stayed behind as the rest of Fairy Tail ran out of the hall.

He cornered a mage and grabbed him by the shirt, hoisting him up against the wall.

"Where's your main headquarters dickweed?"

The man shook in fear in the dragon slayer's grasp. shaking his head, refusing to speak.

"You'll tell me, or I'll set you on fire."

The man squealed in utter terror. "F-Fine. it's in the mountains north of h-here."

Natsu smirked then pushed his magic into his arm holding the mage, setting him ablaze. The mage screamed in pain and fell to the floor rolling around trying to put the fire out. Natsu then ran out of the guild, Happy right behind him.

Lucy woke up to a cold hard floor and looked around to see she was in some kind of prison cell. She tried to move to sit up and realized her hands were bound, finally feeling the pain of the rope rubbing against her skin. She moaned and pushed through the aches and pains to sit up.

"Where am I?" She asked herself. The last thing she remembered, she was in a water bubble, captured by two wizards from the element four, who she just remembered worked for phantom lord.

Great, just great. She was kidnapped and now in some kind of prison or dungeon. She was all alone and had no idea where she was. She looked for her keys only to realize once again that they were gone.

"Wonderful."

Lucy looked up to the source of the voice to see a sinister looking man with a mustache and purple hat.

"It looks like our heiress is finally awake. Let me be the first to welcome you to Phantom Lord's headquarters."

Lucy scowled at the smirking man.

"Who are you and why am I here."

"I am Jose Porla master of the Phantom Lord guild. Well it appears that someone misses you dearly and wants you back, so they hired us to get the job done. I have to say, this was a fabulous opportunity, when we found out you were a member of that wretched excuse for a guild, to finally destroy it once and for all."

"What? You haven't destroyed Fairy Tail, that's impossible!"

"Is it? I already got your master out of the way, and your guild hall is in ruins. It's only a matter of time before your members drop like flies."

Lucy looked up to him in shock. He couldn't be serious could he?

"You're lying."

"You can believe what you want, but it's the truth. Now you can either behave and become a guest of ours or stay in this cell. The choice is yours."

"I would never want to be a 'guest' of yours. I'd rather rot in this cell for the rest of my life!"

"Suit yourself. I'll be back later when you are in a more agreeable mood. We have some things to discuss."

Jose walked out of the cell and closed the door once more.

Lucy yelled out in frustration. How did she end up in these situations! Who was the person that misses her dearly? Could it be her father? She knew he was determined to get what he wants but would he really go this far? She certainly didn't hope so, but part of her knew the truth, the other part just didn't want to admit it.

She looked around the dingy cell once more, familiarizing herself with her surroundings. She noticed a large opening opposite the door and walked toward it, only to see it was a window that lead to a one hundred foot drop to the ground below. She shuddered as the wind whipped at her face and she backed away, not liking the idea of falling.

It was then that Lucy remembered the communication Lacrima tucked into her shirt. She got on the ground and rolled around until it fell out, she then maneuvered herself so her hands could touch the orb and pushed some magic into it, before moving it in front of her face. she knew just who she needed to call and she hoped that he would answer.

In a different part of Fiore, the thunder tribe was walking through a forest, traveling to clover to continue their investigation of missing mages.

It was nearing lunch time and Laxus' stomach decided to let the whole team know it.

"Sounds like we should stop and whip up some grub, huh boss?" Bickslow teased.

Laxus glared at the seith mage and was about to open his mouth when his stomach replied for him.

Evergreen laughed, pushing her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose. "It looks like there's a clearing a few yards ahead. We can set up there."

Once they reached the clearing, Freed set up runes around the area so no one could attack them. Laxus started a campfire while Ever and Bicks got out some cans of stew to cook up as well as a huge pot and spit to hang it on.

While the stew was cooking over the fire, the gang went over what they'd learned so far. They had already apprehended several mages with ties to the new dark guild that was apparently located in Clover. They still had no idea why the disappearances were happening, but were glad none the less to have a direction now.

"Based on what the last man told us, the guild is rapidly increasing and setting up posts in neighboring towns. It would be best to just go to Clover as planned and cut the head off the beast of so to speak." Freed spoke between spoonfuls of stew.

"At least if we go to the main guild in Clover, the other posts should disburse. The problem is we have no idea how many mages are in the main guild." Evergreen pointed out.

"True, we'll have to come up with a plan of attack..." Laxus spoke but was interrupted when his communication lacrima went off.

"This better be good." Laxus sighed, not liking being bothered while he was eating. He pushed some magic into the orb only to see the slightly bruised and distressed face of Lucy.

"Lax? P-Please h-help me."

"Lu? Shit, what the hell happened to you? Where are you?" Laxus' heart lept into his throat at the sight of her.

At the concerned sound of their leaders voice, the rest of the thunder tribe went silent and eagerly listened in.

"I-I was kidnapped, by the element four of p-phantom lord. They attacked the guild hall and destroyed it. I'm in their headquarters and I don't have my keys!" Lucy cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. She felt stupid for crying in front of him like this, but she couldn't hold it in anymore. Everything that had happened took it's toll on the celestial mage and she couldn't keep it in any longer.

Laxus growled, his inner dragon furious. Someone was going to pay, dearly. "Phantom Lord huh?"

Lucy nodded her head.

"Ok Lu, I'm on my way. I'll try and get there as soon as I can. Hang in there and be strong for me. Can you do that?"

"I'll do my best." She sniffled, trying to compose herself.

"That's my girl. Hang tight, I'm coming Lulu." Lucy smiled sadly at him before the call disconnected. Laxus threw the lacrima down to the ground hard, cracking it a bit.

"Laxus, that doesn't sound good." Bickslow spoke up first.

"No shit. I'm leaving to go take care of this." He began to grab his pack and coat.

"You can't just leave Laxus-sama! We're in the middle of a mission commissioned by the magic council itself!" Freed interjected.

"Screw the council. You guys can handle this just fine. If they whine about it tell 'em to come to me. You can split my part of the reward money between yourselves."

"Laxus, you'll need our help." Evergreen stood up.

"I'll be fine Ever. You're needed here more at the moment. I'll keep in touch. See you back at the guild." Laxus turned, picked up his cracked lacrima and darted into the forest back the way they came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is! Like I said before, this is my own take on the phantom lord arc. Some of it will be very similar and somethings will obviously be different. For the parts that follow the arc, I tried my best to keep it as close to the anime as I could. I know I left out the first fight with Gajeel and Natsu, I just didn't think it was necessary since I'm focusing this story on Lucy and Laxus.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	14. To The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laxus and Lucy start out as children growing up in Fairy Tail until certain events send both their lives in different directions. This is a story of a friendship that stands the test of time and becomes something much much more. Slightly A/U and will somewhat follow the anime but with some changes.

Chapter 14: To The Rescue

All he could do was run. That's all he was capable of at the moment. Lucy's situation consuming his thoughts. He had no idea how long he had been running or how far he had traveled, but that didn't matter right now. He just had to get to the nearest town so he could orient himself and use his lightning teleportation. Seeing her on that lacrima screen devastated him. He had never felt so much rage in his life. This had to be her father's doing, there was no other option. His fists clenched when he thought about the man who called himself Lucy's father. What kind of parent would put their child through this? Oh wait, his own father would. He and Lucy had that in common.

Back at Phantom's headquarters, Lucy sat in silence looking out the large open window in her cell. Her heartbeat racing with nerves. How did things like this always happen to her? She thought she received adequate training from her spirits in self defense, but apparently not. At least not when it came to defending herself against fellow mages. She had to get stronger if she wanted to avoid this type of thing in the future. She hated being the damsel in distress, yet here she was, locked up in a tall tower, being kept prisoner for who knows how long. She hoped Laxus would hurry up, she didn't know how far away he was. Maybe Natsu would come and break her out? Either way she knew her Fairy Tail family wouldn't stand for this.

At the thought of her guild mates, her brow furrowed. 'All of this likely happened because my dad hired these guys. If I hadn't left home none of this would have happened'. Her guilt consumed her and she pulled her knees to her chest, gently rocking back and forth for comfort. If only her mother were still alive.

Suddenly Lucy heard the creek of an iron door, and in walked Jose with a smug look on his face.

"Well my dear, have you had time to calm down?"

Lucy glared in his direction, not caring to respond.

"I'll take that as a yes. Have you considered my offer to stay here as a guest? You'd be able to leave this dingy cell."

"I have, and I refuse."

Jose chuckled. "Have it your way heiress. I'll just keep you here until your father pays up."

Lucy's face scrunched up in confusion.

"That's right, instead of handing you over, I've decided to keep you here and blackmail your father for everything he's got."

"That'll never work. My father's assets are like his own children."

"We'll see about that."

Suddenly Lucy had an 'aha' moment and began to squirm uncomfortably.

"What's the matter my dear?"

"W-Well, I need to use the bathroom."

Jose laughed. "Feel free, there's a nice looking corner over there."

Lucy's eyes widened in shock. She had to play this just right, also even if she did have to go, she wouldn't do it in a corner in front of this creep!

"I don't think so. Could you untie me and direct me towards a restroom?"

Jose shook his head, his smug smirk still plastered on his face. "Nice try. I'll go get you a bucket. At least you can't say I wasn't hospitable." He quickly walked out of the cell and closed the door.

Lucy smirked. She didn't really have to go, but it would be a way to distract him long enough so she could escape. Not a moment later, Jose came back in with an old rusty bucket and dropped it by her feet.

"T-Thank you." Lucy spoke, trying to sound fearful. She then began to position herself over the bucket, but instead of doing the deed, she squared up and kicked Jose in the balls.

"AAAAHH!" He screamed falling to the floor cradling his family jewels.

This was it, her one chance at escaping. She started to make her way towards the door when she felt a hand grasp around her ankle.

"Not so fast. You think you can outsmart me?" He coughed out between labored breaths.

Lucy shook her leg in an attempt to free herself but it was no use. Her only other option was to kick him again with her other foot, which is what she did. This time she kicked him in his side as she fell to the ground.

He let go of her foot and groaned out in pain. She scrambled to her feet and made a b line for the door but just as she reached the threshhold, it closed on her, a man standing outside smirking at her through the metal bars.

Jose composed himself and started heading towards her. She ran around him and stood on the ledge of the large opening.

"It's just you and me now bitch. You're going to pay for what you've done."

Lucy looked behind her and out the window, then back to Jose, weighing her options.

Natsu and Happy had Phantom's headquarters in sight and were currently racing towards it. Natsu being carried by Happy in the air. As they got closer they noticed a figure standing in an opening in the top of the tower. Every bit closer made Natsu realize that it was Lucy. He screamed her name at the top of his lungs.

"LUCYYYY!"

Luckily, Lucy heard it and she smirked. She knew just what to do now.

"I don't think so Jose. You deserve what you got. I hope I don't ever have to see you again."

She took one step behind her and fell.

Jose sat in the cell bewildered and in shock.

On the other side of the brick tower, Lucy was in the midst of free falling and she screamed for the person she had heard moments ago.

"NATSUU!"

"Oh shit, speed up Happy, we have to catch her!"

"Aye Sir!" Happy replied, increasing his speed.

Just as Lucy was about to hit ground, she was jolted by a pair of strong arms wrapping around her.

She let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Natsu! You came!"

"Of course Luce! We weren't going to let Phantom Lord get away with taking you!"

"Uh guys? the two of you are two heavy now, I-I can't stay in the air." Happy tried to speak in between the reunion between friends. Soon enough they started descending and landed in a pile of cat and human limbs about a mile away from Phantom's headquarters.

"What the hell happy? Why'd you drop us!?" Natsu asked as he untangled himself from the other two.

"Lushy was too heavy." Happy replied, exhausted from the rescue.

"Excuse me!?" Lucy said threateningly as she too recovered from the fall. Her aura frightening both Natsu and Happy.

"I'm sure he didn't mean that Luce, really." Natsu placated, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Oh I meant it." Happy said snarkily, pulling a fish out of his backpack to gnaw on.

"Stupid cat." Lucy murmured as she began walking.

Natsu and Happy ran to catch up with her and began telling her everything that happened over the course of the day.

It took the trio several hours, but they finally made it to the guild hall. As the three walked through the doors, cheers erupted and Lucy was engulfed with hugs and praises.

"We're so glad you're okay Lucy." Mira cried out, while hugging the life out of the celestial mage. She looked over to the pink haired dragon slayer and gave him a fierce hug as well.

Lucy was happy to be back home, but on the inside she felt nothing but guilt. Hearing about what happened to the master and her guild mates from Natsu broke her heart. They've all suffered because of her and who she was. If she hadn't come back, none of this would've happened.

Her smile started to falter, something which Gray and Erza who were currently talking to her noticed.

"Hey, you Lucy?" Erza comforted the blonde.

"No, not really Erza."

Gray quirked in eyebrow. "Well, you're safe now, so what could be the problem?"

A heavy sigh came from Lucy's lips as she took a seat at a nearby table, followed by the script and ice make mages.

"I...It just...Well, none of this would've happened if I hadn't returned to the guild. If I had just stayed with my father. He's the one that hired Phantom Lord to kidnap me. Jose, their guild master said he's using that as an excuse to go after Fairy Tail. I-maybe I should just leave. It would save all of you from future trouble and suffering."

The two mages sat there in shock. Erza's mouth hung open. "How could you even think that Lucy!? You are now, and always have been a part of this guild! You are family and we stick up for our family. If we get some bumps and bruises along the way then so what? Our nakama are worth it."

Tears began to flow from Lucy's eyes. "I..I don't know anymore."

"Well I do. I came to this guild after your father took you away, but I saw what it was like before you came back and what it's like now. You are the light of this guild Lucy, we'll do everything we can to keep it that way." Gray reached out and took a hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I-I don't know what to say." Lucy spoke between sobs.

"Say you'll let us help you." Erza smiled warmly at her dear friend.

Lucy responded with a smile of her own and nodded.

The rest of the guild was still in the process of getting patched up from the fight earlier. Bisca and Alzack were tasked with bringing the master to Porlyusica, a recluse of an old woman who was a mage that used healing magic. She lived in the forest in the outskirts of Magnolia.

Mira took Lucy's arrival as the opportunity to contact Laxus. She knew they were good friends and that Lucy would want him here for support, well not only Lucy, the entire guild could use the master's grandson at the moment.

She channeled her magic into her lacrima and Laxus' face appeared inside.

"What do ya want Mira? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"Laxus! I'm so glad you answered. We're having some trouble and could really use your help."

"I know, Lucy filled me in. I'm on my way, I should be there in a few hours. Have you heard from her?" The last part spoken with concern.

"Actually yes! She's here at the guild, or what's left of it. Phantom Lord destroyed our guildhall. Natsu brought Lucy back and we're all recuperating from the fight earlier."

"What fight?"

"Oh she must not have known. The master and the rest of the guild went to Oak Town to confront Phantom and it's master, Jose. Master Makarov was gravely injured and we had to retreat."

Laxus' eyes widened after hearing that fact. "Gramps? Where is he?"

"He was brought to Porlyusica's place. We don't have any updates yet. I'll be sending Lucy to our safe house soon so we can keep a close eye on her. We don't want them to try and take her again."

Laxus nodded his head in understanding. "Like I said, I'm still a few hours out but I'm on my way."

Mira nodded and smiled before ending the call.

Laxus pocketed his Lacrima and walked over to the ticket station. He did reach the nearest town and then lightening teleported to Oak town, however he knew he needed to conserve his energy so he decided to suck it up and take the train to Magnolia, despite his tendency to get motion sickness. He looked up to the hill that was Oak town and saw empty space where he knew the Phantom Lord guild hall was supposed to be. He was curious as to where it was. Did Fairy Tail demolish it? That couldn't be it because Mira said they had to retreat. Then where was the building? Deciding he needed to focus and get to his guild mates and Lucy, he purchased a ticket and walked to the platform.

Back at Fairy Tail, everyone was either nursing their wounds or a fresh pint of ale when the building shook. They all froze, unsure what could have caused such a thing, when it happened again. Soon enough there was a rhythm to the tremors and a few mages ran through the back doors and out into the courtyard facing the sea.

That's when they saw it. A huge building 'walking' towards them in the water. Shouts could be heard from outside and everyone else filed through the back doors and witnessed the unbelievable spectacle.

"That's Phantom Lord's guild hall." Erza was the first one to speak.

Everyone realized it was true, and were terrified to say the least. As it came closer, a booming voice could be heard.

"Attention Fairy Tail wizards. This is master Jose of Phantom Lord. I have come to collect, one Lucy Heartfilia. Hand her over and no one gets hurt."

Lucy cringed at hearing the voice of phantom's creepy master. She knew what had to be done. She started taking a step forward when Cana and Mira grabbed her and held her back.

"Don't even think about it." The card mage warned.

"It's the best way. At least then none of you will get hurt." Lucy conceded.

"Nonsense. Jose won't stop once he's got you and you know it." Erza turned back to face the three.

"Erza's right Lucy. Handing yourself over won't save us from them. Come, I've got Reedus ready out front, he'll take you to a safe house that only the master and I...and Reedus know about. They won't find you there."

"I can't do that! At least let me fight alongside you!" Lucy protested.

"Lucy, listen to Mira. Don't try and be a hero here. You'd be helping us by staying out of sight and out of Phantom's hands." Cana tried to persuade the blonde.

Lucy's head was filled to the brim with emotions and she didn't know what to do anymore. Sighing, she decided to take their advice.

"Fine, I'll go to the safe house."

"Good, come with me, everything will work out just fine. We're Fairy Tail after all!" Mira smiled.

Lucy nodded and the two retreated back into the guildhall.

Once Lucy was tucked into the carriage Reedus made with his magic, Mira closed the door and waved as they took off. Here was her chance to help the guild. She went back inside and found Cana and discussed her new plan.

After a few minutes, the carriage stopped. Lucy opened the door and jumped out. Reedus then led her through an alleyway to a rusted metal door. He took a key out of his pocket and jiggled it around in the lock before it opened and a loud creak was heard. The two walked inside to see an old dusty warehouse with boxes stacked high and straw littering old rotten wood floor boards.

"What is this place?" Lucy asked, while taking in her surroundings.

"Mira tells me that the master purchased this building some time ago and has forgotten the reason he bought it in the first place. It's a perfect place to hide something or someone." Reedus spoke as he moved to a box and took a seat. Lucy giggled. "Sounds like something the master would do." She walked around for a bit and then came back to where Reedus was sitting, only to see him with canvas and paint brush in hand. Where did he keep that stuff? He doesn't even have pockets!

"Do you mind if I paint you Lucy? It will be something to pass the time."

Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, why not." She took a seat on another box across from him and they conversed while he painted.

What seemed like hours had only been about 45 minutes. Lucy sighed and looked up to see a row of skylights in the ceiling. It was then that she heard the commotion on the roof. She looked over at Reedus, and he too had heard it. He signaled for Lucy to hide behind a large stack of boxes. Lucy nodded and knelt down behind them. No sooner had she taken cover did she hear the shattering of glass and several pairs of boots landing on the wooden floors.

"Come out come out wherever you are." A deep raspy voice spoke in a sing songy manner.

"Who are you and what do you want." Reedus stood from his box and set down his canvas.

"You know who I am fatty and I've come for the rich brat. I can smell her, I know she's in here." the man spoke once more.

Reedus remained in place, his fear hidden from his face. "I'm the only one in this warehouse. I believe you are mistaken."

The tanned and muscled man cracked his knuckles and began to walk towards the rounder mage, his two cronies right behind him giggling in excitement.

"Now, it's not very nice to lie, is it? I'll ask you one more time, where is the blonde bimbo?"

Reedus didn't respond. He only looked at the man before him. He was tall and muscular with long black hair and rounded metal piercings dotting his face and arms. He knew him. He saw him back at Phantom. This was Gajeel.

"Quit stallin' man, where's the broad!" one of the men behind Gajeel spoke up.

Again, Reedus was silent. instead of talking, he decided he needed to take action, for Lucy's sake. He lifted up his shirt.

The three men shielded their eyes, not wanting to see the overweight man's stomach.

Reedus proceeded to paint some wyverns on his stomach, which then became real and started attacking the three intruders.

All Lucy could do was sit there and listen to the brawl happening mere feet away from her. Soon enough she heard the sounds of bodies dropping to the floor.

"You think those fake wyverns would do the trick? Pitiful." Gajeel taunted, brushing off some stray pieces of straw from his clothing. He started walking towards Reedus once more until he was backed up against the very boxes Lucy was hiding behind.

"You know, I know exactly where she is. But if you tell me, I might just let you live. Your choice."

Reedus was shaking in his boots. He was never one for combat but he would give everything he had to protect his nakama.

"I won't do it."

Lucy decided enough was enough. She didn't want Reedus to die on her account. She stepped out from behind the boxes and moved next to Reedus in a defensive stance.

"Glad you could finally come out and join us."

Lucy glared at the imposing figure. Before she knew what hit her, Gajeel flashed up to her and hit her between her neck and shoulder blade, knocking her out cold.

"Take care of that one for me will ya?" He said with his back to Reedus and a hand raised in the air in parting.

"You got it boss!" one of the cronies spoke as they closed in on Reedus.

Reedus just watched in defeat as the celestial mage was carried out of the warehouse before he was pummeled by the two other mages.

Gajeel jumped back up on the roof with the blonde in his arms. He took a moment to admire her attractive features and let out a whistle in approval.

"Damn blondie, I never expected you to be this hot!" Gajeel cackled and threw her over his shoulder as he made his way back to Master Jose with his 'delivery.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is! Like I said before, this is my own take on the phantom lord arc. Some of it will be very similar and somethings will obviously be different. For the parts that follow the arc, I tried my best to keep it as close to the anime as I could. I know I left out the first fight with Gajeel and Natsu, I just didn't think it was necessary since I'm focusing this story on Lucy and Laxus.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	15. Just In Time

Chapter 15: Just in Time

Laxus held his head in his hands as the train slowly came to a halt. Moments later he saw the conductor walk past him announcing their arrival.

The hulking dragon slayer forced himself up out of his seat. His nausea still in full force. The moment he walked off the train he was so close to kissing the ground it was almost funny. Almost. He took a deep breath of fresh air and sped through the streets of Magnolia to the guild.

Laxus kicked the doors open to see the guild hall empty except for Cana and Mira who were huddled by the back door. Their heads snapped up when they heard the commotion. He walked towards them quickly.

"Where's the safe house?"

"Well hello to you too!" Cana replied, her hands on her hips.

The dragon slayer narrowed his eyes at the card mage before turning back to Mira and waiting expectantly.

"I-It's the red brick warehouse on ginger street but-" Before she could finish her sentence Laxus nodded and headed back towards the front doors.

"Hey wait a sec! We need you here! Phantom's whole guild hall is attacking us out there, and besides, Lucy's probably just fine. Reedus is with her!" Cana shouted after him.

Laxus stopped and looked over his shoulder. "I'll be the judge of whether or not she's fine. I'm sure you guys can handle things here." With that, he continued on his way out of the guild.

"So much for your plan Mira, looks like we'll have to go with our back-up."

Mira eyed Cana warily before nodding in agreement. She then called on her magic and transformed into a Lucy look alike.

"I hope this works."

A few blocks away, Laxus ran as fast as he could, not caring if he ran into people or stopped traffic. He had a bad feeling about all of this and the sooner he saw Lucy with his own eyes, the better. He was just about to cross a busy intersection when a carriage suddenly crossed his path. Laxus dodged the vehicle by going down a side street. He was about to start running again when he saw the sun reflecting off of something on the ground. He walked over to it and saw it was a set of gold keys. Picking them up he ran his thumb over the key heads and noticed they had zodiac signs on them. These were Lucy's keys. She had mentioned that she didn't have them on her when she was held captive by Jose earlier that day. Laxus pocketed them and continued making his way through Magnolia over to the warehouse district.

His heart was beating more rapidly now as he neared the warehouse. He could faintly detect her scent on the wind. He knew he was close. His gut was telling him to hurry so he quickened his pace and took the next turn onto ginger street. He stopped in front of the red brick building described by Mira and kicked open the door, hurrying inside.

Laxus looked around and saw Reedus laying in the remains of some storage boxes, badly beaten and bloody. As he walked over to the pict mage he noticed a portrait of Lucy on the floor. He picked it up admiring Reedus' skill for a moment before setting it on a box nearby and kneeling down next to the battered mage.

He helped sit him up then grabbed him by the collar and shook him awake.

"Huh? W-What...Laxus?" Reedus spoke incoherently as he came to.

"Where. Is. She?" Laxus growled.

Hearing his tone of voice, Reedus' eyes widened in fear. "I-I tried." He rasped out. "I tried but..."

"I don't give a shit what you tried. Where is she?"

"Lucy-She, she's gone. They came, they came and took her. Gajeel." Reedus coughed out.

Laxus let go of his shirt and helped the man stand up. Honestly, he thought this whole situation was pathetic. Fairy Tail was supposed to be one of the strongest guilds and here they couldn't even protect one of their own.

"Just head back to the guild." He said disappointingly before he walked out of the warehouse.

Reedus, feeling completely useless, picked up his portrait of Lucy, dusted himself off and left for Fairy Tail.

Laxus meanwhile tried to pick up on Lucy's scent and was able to follow the strawberry and floral aroma. It was leading him back towards Fairy Tail as well. He thought back to what Reedus had said. He mentioned Gajeel. There was only one person he could be referring to and it made him all the more concerned for Lucy's well being. Laxus had heard stories of black steel Gajeel and they weren't all sunshine and roses. That guy had a penchant for being unusually cruel and malicious. As he ran back the way he came he finally noticed the large building behind Fairy Tail in the distance. it was shrouded in purple apparitions and magic spells could be seen left and right. Since he knew who he was dealing with he wanted to conserve as much magic as possible so instead of transporting over there he just ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

While Laxus was running around Magnolia, Gajeel had reached Phantom's guild hall which had parked itself across from Fairy Tail. He held onto his prize tightly as he climbed his way up and into the main hall, making his way to Jose's office.

He burst through the doors and dropped Lucy in front of his guild master, flashing an evil grin.

"My my my, what have we here? Thank you Gajeel, at least I can count on one of my guild members." Jose spoke languidly as he stroked his mustache.

"Gi hi hi, it was nothin' boss. She didn't put up much of a fight."

"Good, good. Now bring her to one of the empty offices and keep an eye on her. We don't want those Fairy brats getting their hands on her again. Understand?"

"Sure thing." Gajeel bent down and picked up Lucy's limp body, throwing her over his shoulder once more before leaving Jose's office. As he was walking down the hallway he felt the blonde begin to stir in his arms.

Lucy groaned as she came to, opening one eye at a time. She realized she was not in the warehouse anymore and that she wasn't on solid ground either. She began to squirm and scream at the top of her lungs.

"Where am I? Who are you? Let go of me!"

"Nah. Ah Ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you. It'll only make things worse."

"Who are you and why did you kidnap me?"

"It's all part of a days work sweetheart." Gajeel had stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway and walked in side, throwing Lucy down onto the cold stone floor.

She rolled a few times before coming to a stop against the opposite wall, groaning as the reality of her position and the pain shooting through her body were realized. Gajeel then closed the door behind him and brought a rickety looking chair over and threw his leg over to sit on it backwards.

"So, blondie. Have any idea why you're here?" He teased.

"I was hoping you'd tell me that asshole."

"Come now, there's no need to call me names. After all I'm just doing my job."

Lucy scowled back at him and began to sit up. "How can you stand to work for someone like Jose?"

"It pays the bills."

"How sad. If I were you I'd look for a different guild instead of work for someone so despicable. It just shows me who you are as a person and to be honest, I'm disgusted."

Gajeel formed his arm into an iron club and propelled it into Lucy's stomach. She leaned forward, spit flying from her mouth as she cradled her abdomen.

"Well, that wasn't very nice. Looks like I'll have to teach you some manners blondie." He got out of the chair and walked over to her slowly, bending down so they were face to face.

"Too bad, you're a pretty little thing. It's almost a shame what I'm about to do to you. But fair is fair. You don't just get away with insulting me like that." He grabbed her chin forcefully so she had to look into his eyes.

What she saw there made her cringe. Gajeel's red eyes staring back into her own, a sadistic smile painted on his face. He was clearly enjoying it and that made Lucy's already painfull stomach tie up in knots.

Gajeel continued to hold her face in place, his grin widening ever so slightly. "I have a proposition for you darlin'. Be my woman and I'll get you out of this little mess. Whaddya say?"

Was this guy serious? He just kidnapped her, punched her in the gut, then asked her to be his girlfriend? What a whacko! She bared a look of disgust before she spit right in his face.

Gajeel stayed still for a moment before he slapped her across the face, hard. He then quickly grabbed her chin once more so they were eye to eye.

"That was your only chance blondie, and you ruined it. Prepare to suffer." He let go and stood up to walk away before he turned back and swiftly kicked her in her right shoulder. Lucy could hear bones crack before the pain finally registered in her brain and she screamed out in agony.

"Gi hi, that's music to my ears." Gajeel sighed.

Lucy tried sitting up again, holding onto her shoulder, a red mark forming on her cheek from where he slapped her. Even though she was experiencing the worst pain of her life, she knew there was no giving up. A Fairy Tail mage never gave up.

Instead she glared at him and began to stand up, using the wall behind her for support. Once she was on both feet she stood her ground.

"Don't call me blondie."

"I'll call you whatever I damn well please."

She glared back at him and got into a defensive stance, her right arm hanging limp at her side.

"Oh, so you think you can fight back huh? This should be entertaining!" Gajeel cackled as he took a few steps towards her. He went to punch her but Lucy was able to block it with her left arm. Gajeel's eyes went wide for a split second before a smirk cracked his features.

"Not bad, for a weak little fairy." He spoke before he brought his other fist up and punched her in the ribs. Lucy grunted as she doubled over, but she used everything she had to stay standing.

She remained silent as Gajeel watched her recover. Why wasn't he attacking again? Why would he let me get back up just to send me crashing down again? Is he really this cruel?

Gajeel stood before her with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"I have to say, I'm mildly impressed. Most people would be out cold by now."

"Well I'm a Fairy Tail mage, I won't go down without a fight."

"Gi hi, then I'll give you one hot stuff."

He then disappeared to somehow stand right in front of her. He was about to grab her when Lucy ducked and tripped him, causing the tall slayer to fall backwards.

Lucy heard a gasp and looked across the room to see the two guys that had accompanied her captor to the warehouse.

Gajeel righted himself quickly and turned around to face the two newcomers.

"Wow, I never though I'd see the day that Black Steel Gajeel would let a little fairy get the better of him." One of them teased.

"Shut your trap Jaris, unless you want to join this the blonde over here for a little punishment. I don't mind, in fact I'm feeling rather generous."

the other mage shook his head once he took in the blondes' appearance. Her labored breathing, the fresh bruise forming across the left side of her face. Her limp right arm dangling.

"Yo Gajeel, don't you think she's had enough? I thought master didn't want her all roughed up."

"I'll be the one that says she's had enough. Besides, the masters plans have slightly changed."

"You should listen to your guild mates. There's no reason for this. I've done nothing to you!"

"Ah, but you're wrong blondie. You denied me. You turned me down. I can't just let that go now can I?" Gajeel spoke over his shoulder.

"Well, you should. This is just a job for you after all, isn't it?" She was hoping to buy time with this little conversation until somebody came to get her.

The iron dragon slayer ignored his comrades and walked over to the injured woman until they were face to face. He leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"No one's coming for you. They are all a little busy as you saw earlier when we arrived. It's just you and me now. Like I said before, I'm feeling generous, so I won't kill you. However, I do plan on having a little fun."

As he returned to his standing position before her, she slapped him. He immediately grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground and against the wall.

"you think you're so clever, don't you? You think you have me all figured out. But you're wrong. You don't know a damn thing about me."

Lucy struggled in his grasp, bringing her left hand up to his to try and pry it off, only to tangle her hand up in her necklace from Laxus.

"Oh what's this?" Gajeel tore the star necklace from around Lucy's neck.

"Give...T-That back.." Lucy gasped out.

"Is this important to you?" He asked, dangling it in front of her.

Lucy's eyes got wide as she could feel her windpipe closing. She hoped someone would come soon, she didn't know how much of this she could take. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of a response so she just stared back at him.

Gajeel laughed and dropped the blonde, watching as she crashed to the floor and immediately brought her hand to her neck. She watched as he walked over to a window and threw her cherished possesion out of it.

"You bastard."

His evil grin returned as he walked back over to her. "We're just getting started sweetheart."

Laxus had reached the huge building sitting in the sea. He informed his guild mates of what happened and that Lucy was inside and began climbing up the side of the giant structure, honing in on Lucy's scent.

As he looked up he saw an arm shoot out of a window a few stories up from him and drop something. He watched as the item reflected the setting sun as it hurdled down to him. He caught it in his hand and turned it over.

This was Lucy's necklace. He clenched his fist in rage. He looked back up and calculated which room it came from before teleporting himself up there.

Inside the room, Lucy noticed her hair started to stand on end, as well as Gajeel's and his two henchmen. She managed a small smile.

"What's got you happy all of the sudden?" Gajeel asked with a raised brow.

No sooner had the words left his mouth, the room was engulfed in a blinding light.

When it died down, Laxus was standing by the window, lightning still crackling around him. His eyes completely gold.

"L-Laxus." Lucy rasped from her sitting position.

He chanced a quick glance behind the black haired man to see Lucy crumpled up on the floor, holding her right arm. He quickly looked back up to the man in front of him.

"You must be Gajeel." He growled.

"Why yes, I am. And who might you be?" He replied snarkily.

"I am your end."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! Chapter 15! Sorry to leave on a slight cliffy but it felt like a good place to stop. Yay! Laxus is in the picture now! Get ready for some action peeps! Next chapter will be full of it!


	16. Laxus vs. Gajeel

Chapter 16: Laxus Vs Gajeel  
Previously...

"You must be Gajeel." He growled.

"Why yes, I am. And who might you be?" He replied snarkily.

"I am your end."

Chapter 16: Laxus Vs. Gajeel

"Ooh, I'm shakin' in my boots gi hi" Gajeel taunted as he eyed the newcomer to the room.

Laxus began to walk towards the iron dragon slayer before stopping a few feet in front of him. He stared heatedly at him before his gaze shifted behind the dragon slayer to Lucy who was still sitting against the wall. He dug into his pocket and took out her keys. His heart sank as he took in her appearance. He was proud that she was still conscious, not many people would be after dealing with the iron dragon slayer.

"Lu, catch."

He then threw the keys over to the injured blonde who caught them in her good hand. She immediately felt the familiar warmth of her spirits as she ghosted her fingers over the key heads. Her spirit family was back. She was too weak at the moment to call any of them out, but just having their keys in her hands brought her immense comfort. A tear ran down her cheek at being reunited with them.

Lucy looked up to her savior with gratitude in her eyes and a slight smile. She mouthed the words "thank you."

The lightning mage nodded then looked back to his task at hand.

His magic still radiated out from him in electrical arcs that danced around his body. The two cronies of Gajeel's that were still in the room could feel the magical energy practically suffocating them.

"Think we should leave?" Jaris asked his fellow guildmate.

"That would be the smart thing to do, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see this fight." They looked back to the source of the heavy magical energy in the room.

The two dragon slayers continued their staring contest until Laxus decided to not waste any more time. He got into his fighting stance and a smirk danced across his hardened features in anticipation of the battle to come. It had been some time since he was faced with an adversary that he was sure would cause him to break a sweat.

"You think you can do this to our guild and my guild mates and not face our wrath?"

Gajeel smirked back and chuckled. "Your guild is pathetic! You think that your 'wrath' scares me? bring it on lightning freak!" Gajeel lowered himself into his own defensive stance, prepared for what would come.

Lucy meanwhile scooted herself into the far corner of the room, trying to get as far away from the two men as possible. She held her keys tightly to her chest and waited with baited breath for the first move. It had been years since she last saw Laxus fight, and that was during their training sessions as kids. She never saw him in true battle with someone, but from what she'd seen already, his very presence would strike fear in any normal mage. Just then a flash of gold revealed her lion spirit crouched down beside her.

"L-Loke? How-How are you here? I don't have the strength to summon you!"

"It's okay princess, I'm here on my own magical power. Are you alright?" He asked with concern, going over her injuries.

"I've been better." Lucy chuckled a bit, rubbing her right arm.

"Let's get you out of here, things are going to get pretty bad soon." He went to pick up Lucy's body gingerly.

"No, I-I want to stay. Besides, Laxus might need your help. This guy is no joke."

Loke eyed his master warily before conceding. "As you wish, I will do everything in my power to protect you and aid Laxus." He bowed his head.

"Cut that out, silly. You don't have to be so formal around me. We're family after all."

"Yes princess."

Laxus glanced over to Lucy one more time to see she had her lion spirit with her. He was surprised, considering she looked too weak to even walk, let alone summon her most powerful spirit, but then again, Lucy always surprised him. He didn't know that Loke had appeared of his own volition. Feeling better about the fact that she was now protected, he began to power up. The lightning around him started concentrating into a ball within his palms.

He transferred the lighting ball to his fist and went to strike. Gajeel dodged the punch, just as Laxus had anticipated. He then put some lightning into his other fist and punched the iron dragon in the gut, causing the tall man to travel backwards several feet while holding his stomach. Laxus just smirked and prepared himself for the next attack.

Gajeel took a few breaths then used his arm to wipe the spit off his mouth and grinned. "This is gonna be fun." He stood tall and ran towards the lightning mage.

"Iron dragon club!" He shouted as he extended his arm which turned into his iron club, shooting straight towards Laxus. He jumped up to avoid the hit and immediately noticed Gajeel's other club shaped arm coming straight for him. He didn't have enough time to get out of the way so he put his arms up in front of him to brace himself and limit the damage. Feeling the cool metal of the club hitting his forearms he grunted as the force sent him flying into a wall.

Lucy gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. She tried to sit up, wanting to go to her dear friend, but Loke held her down. "I don't think you'd be much help to him right now Lucy."

"Is he okay?" She asked with worry lacing her voice.

"I'm sure he his, he did block it pretty well." Loke reassured, waiting to see the dragon's response to this attack.

Laxus had hit the wall several feet up and fell to the ground, leaving a giant cracked dent in the stone. Once the dust and debris began to settle, they could all see the silhouette of the dragon slayer standing tall.

He was breathing deeply but seemed no worse for wear. Lucy let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she looked on in relief.

"That one was free, any others are gonna cost ya."

"I'm so scared." Gajeel sang in jest.

Laxus' lightning built up around him and before Gajeel had a chance to blink, he was shocked with a bolt that engulfed his entire body. Gajeel roared out in pain as the lightning kept raining down on him, Laxus not letting up until he could tell the man was about to pass out. Not wanting this battle to come to an end just yet, he ceased his attack and watched on as the slayer crumpled to the ground, his body singed all over.

Once he composed himself, the iron dragon slayer limped over to what looked like a metal table and tore a leg off, letting it crash to the floor. He proceeded to chomp on the table leg until there was nothing left, he chewed and swallowed before speaking.

"Well, things are gettin' interesting. I haven't had this good of a fight in a long time. Seems I have to up the stakes a bit, gi hihi." He cackled as his magic power built around him. Gajeel let out a loud roar and his body started changing. His skin became metal scales that covered every inch of him. He increased in size and power as well. Lucy, Loke and the two phantom lord guild members that were still in the room were in awe of his magical power.

Gajeel relished in the new strength he produced. His cocky smirk directed towards the lightning mage in front of him. "Get ready for the pain sparkplug."

Laxus growled threateningly at the man in front him. "What did you say fuck face?" He honestly wasn't all that surprised at the turn of events. He knew Gajeel had something up his sleeve. He couldn't have been fighting at full power before. This was Gajeel's dragon force. Unfortunately, Gajeel would soon find out that Laxus had a trick up his own sleeve as well.

"Did I strike a nerve?"

"You do know that you're basically one big electrical conductor now right?" Laxus chuckled. "Since you're getting serious I suppose I will too then."

Gajeel's eyes widened slightly at hearing those words. He thought the lightning mage was fighting at full power. He wondered what else the man could do.

Laxus widened his stance and brought his arms out slightly, fisting both of his hands. He lifted his head and roared out as his magic engulfed the entire room. It was completely covered in electrical energy. Gajeel watched on as his skin changed, revealing golden scales that reflected the light his own lightning created. His muscle mass increased several times over and even though Gajeel was a tall man, Laxus now towered over him.

Gajeel stood slack jawed at the transformation before him. "N-No. You can't be."

Laxus laughed as he felt his new strength coursing through his body. He had only experienced his dragon force form one other time, and the other guy had no idea what hit him. "Oh, did I forget to mention, I'm a dragon slayer, just like you Gajeel."

The iron dragon slayer tried to hide the little bit of fear that bubbled up within him but was failing. Laxus cackled as he charged forward. "Lightning dragon's iron fist!" He yelled as he brought his fist into the side of Gajeel's face sending him crashing into another wall. The room shook with the force of the impact of Gajeel's body and the four onlookers looked around warily for any flying debris that could be coming their way.

"Princess, I don't think Laxus will be needing my assistance here. Are you sure you don't want to leave? Things are heating up, I don't want you to get hurt." Loke tried to talk Lucy out of staying.

She turned to him with a look of conviction in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. "I'm staying. If he can put his life on the line for me, than I can be here to support him, even if I can't actually do anything. I'm going to stay, for him."

"But Princess, you could be a distraction, or worse used as leverage against him. I don't think it's wise to remain here."

"I. Dont'. Care. I'm staying and that's final." She replied with all the strength she could muster.

Loke sighed in defeat, realizing now just how like her mother Lucy actually was. Layla was the most stubborn person he had ever known, but Lucy was now vying for that title herself.

Gajeel climbed out of the rubble on the floor and ran towards his opponent. They began exchanging blows, kicks, iron and lightning. They were so fast with their actions that Lucy could barely make out where they were in the room. They seemed to appear and disappear within a moments notice.

Every now and then Laxus would get hit by a flying fist and Gajeel would get pushed back by a strong and sturdy kick. This went on for what seemed like forever, causing the floor beneath them to shake with their power. Gajeel upped his game by changing his arm into some kind of chain saw and resuming his attacks. Laxus wasn't able to dodge and his shoulder was sliced open a bit. He yelled out in pain but continued his own attacks. After a while both jumped back from each other and took deep breaths.

"Iron dragon..."

"Lightning dragon..."

"ROAR!"

They both released their attack simultaneously, their magics meeting between them causing a shock wave to fly through the room. The two phantom mages were thrown against the wall, having the air knocked out of them and going unconscious. Loke and Lucy being so close to a wall themselves were just pushed up against it, not able to move for a bit.

After both of their magic energies died down, the two men just stood facing each other, a panting and bloody mess. Laxus lifted his arm and saw the cut in his shoulder, blood beginning to seep out and down his arm. He growled low in Gajeels direction before teleporting right in front of him. He put his palm against the man's chest and put lightning through it, electrocuting him.

"This, is for my guild." He growled as Gajeel was thrown back and hit the ground hard.

"And this, is for Lucy."

"Lightning Dragon's heavenward Halberd!" He shouted as a trident made of lightning was thrown in the dragon slayers direction. Gajeel looked up to see the attack coming his way and scrambled to get up but couldn't get his entire body of the way and was hit in his right side. He screamed in agony as the attack ripped through him and he collapsed to the floor unconscious. The room shook once more with the power of Laxus' attack and the roof above them started to rain down on them.

Laxus stood there trying to catch his breath. This was the first time he'd used that attack in battle and forgot how much magical energy it actually took. He was basically spent. He turned to look in Lucy's direction and saw her eyes were already glued to him. He then felt the building shake once more and realized it wasn't just him that was causing the tremors. He carefully walked over to Lucy and her spirit and crouched down to be eye to eye with her.

"You okay Lulu?" He rasped out, holding his injured shoulder.

Lucy just nodded her head and smiled at him.

"Good." He then looked to Loke and nodded to him in thanks, the spirit reciprocated.

Laxus looked out the window to see the sky had turned a whitish gold and he then felt a magical force so powerful that only one person could be causing it.

"Gramps." He breathed out. It had to be him. He must have healed from whatever happened to him. Laxus realized in an instant what was happening and his focus immediately went back to Lucy and her spirit.

"We have to leave. Now."

The building shook once more, this time almost knocking Laxus off of his feet.

"Why, what's going on?" Loke asked.

"It's gramps, he's invoking Fairy Law. It's a spell that's supposed to destroy everything the caster chooses while saving anything the caster chooses. He's doing it right now and if we don't get out of here we're going to be crushed by this building."

Lucy's eyes went wide as she realized the gravity of the situation. Laxus bent down once more and gently picked up Lucy, cradling her in his arms.

"I've got it from here lion. Thanks for watching out for her."

Loke's eyes narrowed as he watched the two, still not sure what to make of the slayers relationship with his Lucy. "Fine. I will take my leave then. Goodbye Princess." Loke disappeared in a gold puff of smoke.

"Hang on tight Lu."

She nodded once before he teleported both of them to the courtyard of fairy tail. Just as they appeared, Fairy Law was enacted. A bright golden glow engulfed the entire phantom guild hall and blinded everyone in near proximity. There was a flash for a quick second before a shock wave raced through magnolia as the guild hall crumbled and fell into the sea.

Once the commotion died down, Mira, Cana and Macao walked over to the two blondes.

"Laxus, Lucy, what are you doing here? Are you two okay?" Mira asked as she put her hand on Laxus' shoulders.

"It's a long story Mira. Lu can you stand?" Laxus asked through labored breathing.

"Yea, I think so."

Laxus then gently set her down, making sure she could stand before he himself fell to the ground in a heap, having exhausted all his strength.

"Laxus!" Lucy shouted as she knelt down by his side, brushing his sweat slicked hair from his face.

Just then a loud voice could be heard coming from the ruins of the phantom guild hall. "My brats! We are victorious!" Makarov shouted as he stood on the ruins, Natsu and Erza by his side.

The whole guild outside cheered loudly as everyone lifted their hands up in their symbol for their guild. Lucy included. She smiled knowing that they had overcome this daunting obstacle, but then frowned when she looked back at the man laying next to her.

"Oh Laxus, you just had to overdo it, didn't you?" She said mostly to herself, not knowing that he heard her and smirked ever so slightly.

He realized in that moment that he still had her star pendant in his pocket. Ever so slowly he moved his arm, ignoring the constant pain as he dug into his pocket until he could feel the little piece of metal between his fingers. He pulled it out and held it in his hand.

"Lulu."

Lucy heard the gruff whisper and turned to see Laxus staring back at her. He looked down to his hand and Lucy followed his line of sight. He slowly opened his palm to reveal the pendant in his hand, it was scratched a little but otherwise unscathed.

"Laxy, h-how did you...?" Her thought left unfinished as she picked up the star and looked at both sides. She looked back down at him with the warmest, most beautiful smile he figured he would ever see.

"Thank you, so much." She held his hand and did their secret handshake. "For everything. From the bottom of my heart, thank you." She leaned down and kissed him chastely on the lips.

When she broke the kiss, they both stayed just inches apart from each other looking into one another's eyes. Laxus lifted up a very shakey hand and brought it up to her cheek.

She nuzzled into it, ignoring the pain from the red and purple bruise on her face from Gajeel's slap. a few tears escaped her eye as Laxus brushed them away with his thumb.

"Anytime Lu, you know that."

She nodded her head as she held onto the hand that cupped her face. Just then a shadow fell over the two. Lucy looked up to see Elfman and Mira.

"Laxus, let's get you inside and fixed up. You too Lucy, you look a little banged up yourself." Mira said sweetly.

"T-that's a good idea." Lucy replied, shakily standing up so Elfman could assist with Laxus. It took a little work but he was able to get the huge dragon slayer over his shoulder.

"Damn you're heavy Laxus. What a man!" Elfman praised as walked away with Laxus.

"Watch it will ya?" Laxus could be heard saying as Elfman juggled him in his grasp.

Lucy just laughed as she watched the two walk back into what was left of their guild hall.

"Come on Lucy, I'll walk you inside and we can patch you up." Mira's delicate hand landed on the blonde's good shoulder.

"Thanks Mira." With that the two made their way inside, as well as the rest of the guild who were all nursing their own wounds. The battle was won but now they had to heal and rebuild the guild hall. They all had a long road ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is! The epic battle! I'm not too confident about describing fights and whatnot so I hope it was okay.


	17. Goodbyes and Healing

Chapter 17: Goodbyes and Healing

A week had passed since the incident with Phantom Lord and the mages of Fairy Tail were recovering from their injuries. Those who weren't so badly injured had already begun the process of cleaning up the guild hall.

Mira had drawn up blueprints for the new building and was showing anyone and everyone her masterpiece. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly readable and looked more like a children's drawing then schematics for a new guild hall.

Lucy was in Mira's sights at the moment and she rushed over to the Celestial mage with her plans in hand. Lucy had heard rumors about the alleged blueprints and was trying to avoid looking at them at all costs, unsure of what she'd see and not wanting to hurt Mira's feelings.

"Lucy! There you are! I want you to check out the plans for our new guild hall!" Mira sang as she skipped over to Team Natsu's makeshift table.

The blonde's eyes widened as she saw the she-demon on a mission, coming her way.

"Perfect, your whole team's here too, now you can all check it out." She grinned at everyone.

"Cool, I wanna see!" Natsu shouted as Mira placed the papers in the middle of the table. Natsu snatched them up right away and scrutinized them closely, with Happy looking on over his shoulder.

"Yes, I'm very interested to see the new design." Erza spoke up, walking around to stand next to Natsu, whose face was scrunched up in confusion as he turned each paper around to try and see it from a different angle.

"Oi Mira, what am I looking at here?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, let me show you." Mira joined the two and started pointing everything out. By that point Gray and Lucy had reluctantly joined in viewing the plans, both having heard about the designs from the rest of the guild.

"See, here is the bar and that's going to be a stage! Oh and over here will be the stairs leading up to the second level S class offices." She beamed proudly while pointing to the crayon scribbles.

Everyone sweatdropped as Mira gave her explanation. "This looks like a kid drew it!" Natsu blurted out, not thinking about the consequences.

Mira grabbed the plans from his hands and tears started to well up in her blue eyes.

"Way to go flame brain, now you've made her cry." Gray remarked as he hit the dragon slayer in the back of the head.

"I wasn't trying to Ice princess. You wanna fight or something?"

"Gladly."

Lucy walked over to Mira and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I get what you're trying to go for here. It seems like a good layout."

"Really?"

"Of course. In fact I say we start construction immediately." Erza walked up to the two girls with a hard hat on her head and a clipboard in hand.

"Did you requip a hard hat?" Lucy asked, mostly to herself though.

Erza nodded and led Mira back to what was left of the bar, discussing her plans and their execution.

Lucy looked back to the rest of her team to see Natsu and Gray starting yet another fight and sighed with a slight smile on her face. Even though their home was in shambles, they acted like nothing happened. After dodging a few chairs, she decided her time would be better spent helping to clear debris from the main hall. Even though she would have her right arm in a sling for another two weeks, she could still help out, it was the least she could do after all.

As she looked around the ruins of Fairy Tail with a piece of ceiling beam in her hand, it hit her once more that all this carnage was her fault. If she hadn't come back, her father wouldn't have hired Phantom Lord and they wouldn't have attacked. Her heart sunk at the realization. She knew deep down that her Fairy Tail family didn't blame her for any of what happened, but that didn't mean she didn't still blame herself.

Changing her mind again, Lucy walked over to the dumpster and tossed the piece of wood inside then made her way out of the guild hall.

Laxus had been keeping an eye on Lucy since last week. She was still taking shallow breaths and her face was still slightly discolored. He wanted nothing more than to lock her up in her house until she was completely healed, but he knew how head strong and stubborn she was. He wasn't the least bit surprised when two days after the attack, she was adamant about leaving the infirmary. Hell, he was too if he was being honest, but his dragon slayer abilities afforded him quicker healing time. Laxus smirked thinking about how similar they both were to each other.

He watched her pick up a piece of the debris and then freeze. He could see her mind processing something just by looking at her eyes, the way they became slightly darker. The way her brows furrowed and she hunched over slightly. Something was bothering her. As she left the guild, he had half a mind to follow her and check to see how she was doing, but he figured maybe she needed some time alone. With that, he went back to shoveling debris.

Lucy reached her house and went upstairs to her room. She sat at her desk facing the window that looked out onto the canal. Reaching into a drawer, she pulled out a piece of paper and grabbed her favorite pen. She would make this brief, the less time it took for her to get all this over with the better. On top of that her writing hand was in the sling which made her penmanship, in her opinion, atrocious.

After packing a bag and grabbing some extra jewels just in case, Lucy walked down stairs and out onto her stoop, closing the door behind her she tucked the letter behind her doorknocker and locked up, making her way towards the train station.

An hour later, Laxus stood in front of Lucy's house, seeing all the lights off inside. It piqued his curiosity, since it was only four in the afternoon, surely she couldn't be sleeping already. He took long strides up to her front door and noticed an envelope tucked into her doorknocker. He plucked it from the door and eyed the front.

"For Fairy Tail"

Ok, this was weird. Why would this be attached to her front door? Laxus rang the doorbell and waited for a response. Nothing came. He rang it once more. Again, no bubbly blonde answered.

He turned the envelope over in his hands, not sure what to do. He had a sinking feeling this letter was involved with wherever Lucy was. Putting the letter in his pocket, Laxus teleported to back to Fairy Tail.

He pushed the doors open forcefully and rushed inside, past Cana and Erza who looked up from their conversation at the noise the slayer created upon his entrance.

"Hey! What's up your ass?" Cana shouted as she saw the sour faced Laxus walk by the bar.

He paused for a moment, glaring at the card mage before his attention turned to Erza. "Gather your team and meet me in gramp's office." He didn't wait for a reply before he started walking again, down the hall to the store room which was Makarov's temporary office.

"What was that all about?" Cana asked Erza as she took a swig from her barrel.

"I'm not sure, but it must be serious. We'll continue this later." Erza got up from her seat and collected Natsu, Gray and Happy before the four of them went in the same direction Laxus had just moments ago.

Makarov heard a knock on the door and welcomed the visitor inside. "Come on in!"

Laxus entered and left the door open a crack before walking over to his grandfather and sitting on a nearby step ladder. "Gramps, I was over at Lu's place and there was a note on her front door and she wasn't home." He handed the envelope to his grandfather who eyed it suspciously.

"She was just here earlier today m'boy. What makes you think something's happened?"

Just then Erza came in followed by the rest of team Natsu. "Laxus, what's going on?"

Laxus gestured for them to come in and waited for everyone to get settled before he began. "Like I was telling gramps, I went over to Lucy's place to talk to her since she seemed upset about something earlier today. She wasn't home and this was on her front door. Since you're her team, I figured you might want to be here when I open it."

Team Natsu all looked at each other for a moment before they nodded in agreement. Makarov handed Laxus the envelope and he opened it, unfolding the paper to read it's contents.

My dear Fairy Tail family,

I'm so sorry for everything that happened. It was my fault for coming back. I have something I need to do, please don't worry, I'll be ok.

Love,

Lucy Heartfilia

Laxus read the letter out loud and scowled at the piece of paper as if that would make the situation any better. The room was silent for a moment before Natsu couldn't take the tension anymore. "We have to go find her! She might be in trouble!"

Makarov rubbed his chin in thought for a moment as team Natsu debated on what to do. Natsu and Gray were gung ho about going after her, but Erza cleverly pointed out that she probably left hours ago and gave no clue as to her whereabouts.

"Lucy." Laxus whispered. She left again, how could she? Did she think that we were better off without her? What did she mean by she had something to do? 'Way to be vague Lu' Laxus thought to himself.

"Brats."

Everyone in the room fell silent as the master spoke.

"The only place I can think of that she would go is back to the Konzern. She probably feels immense guilt."

"But how could she think that? She's nakama! Family! C'mon Happy, let's go get her back!" Natsu yelled.

"Aye!" Happy agreed and the two turned around to leave. They were stopped however, picked up by their scruffs respectively.

"No, I'll go." Laxus bit out as he threw Natsu back into a dusty chair.

Erza and Gray's heads snapped over to the lightning slayer in confusion. Makarov nodded his head in approval. "Fine, but don't interfere unless it's necessary. This is most likely between her and her father."

Laxus nodded as he swiftly left the store room/office, team Natsu continued sitting there, not sure what to do.

"Is there a reason you're still in my office?" Makarov inquired.

"No, sorry master, we'll be leaving now." Erza replied as she shooed her team mates back into the hallway. As they were leaving Makarov yelled after them "Don't go getting any crazy ideas now!"

As Erza shut the door Gray and Natsu were already scheming about how to go get Lucy.

"What did the master just say?" Erza spoke menacingly from right behind the two boys.

They both froze, feeling the intense aura of the requip mage. "But Erza, she needs us! If her dad was the one that sent Phantom after us then who knows what he could do!"

"Natsu's right. We should at least follow Laxus and make sure she's okay with our own eyes." Gray chimed in.

"Yea, Lushy's nakama, we can't just let her go!" Happy whined. "Who's gonna give me fish!"

"Happy, I also want to make sure that Lucy's okay, but we have to trust Laxus and obey the master. Why don't we go to her house and wait for her return?"

"Great idea Erza!" Natsu chimed in. With that settled, the whole team made their way over to Lucy's townhouse.

Lucy made it, she was standing in front of the house where she grew up. Her bag over her shoulder, keys dangling from her belt. She couldn't remember the last time she was so nervous. What would she say to him? She was beyond mad at him for what he did, beyond words to say for his actions. She just knew she had to return.

She brushed her hand over her keys, her spirits energy bringing her comfort and peace. After taking a few deep breaths, Lucy prepared herself and walked up to the iron gates of the Heartfilia Konzern, hitting the buzzer to announce her presence.

"Welcome to the Heartfilia Konzern, please state your business." a short and to the point voice spoke.

"I've come to see my father Jude Heartfilia. It is his daughter...Lucy." She tried to remain as calm as possible but let slip a little quiver in her voice.

The gates quickly opened and Lucy shuffled through, dreading the confrontation that was to come. Unbeknownst to her, a shadowy figure was lurking behind a cluster of trees and once she passed through the gates, a crack of thunder could be heard...

Startled by the sound, Lucy spun around and came face to face with Laxus. "Oh Mavis!" She screamed as she almost fell backwards.

Laxus smirked ever so slightly and caught Lucy around her waist, steadying her.

"Careful blondie."

Her shocked eyes met his and she blushed a bit, embarrassed of losing her balance. "W-What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I'd let you leave again, did you?"

"Laxus, this is something I need to do by myself. Please."

He eyed her suspiciously. "And what is it exactly that you're doing?"

Lucy looked to the ground and shuffled her feet a bit before meeting his gaze once more. "Look, this is between me and my father. I have to do this, please...just don't interfere. Please?"

One look at those warm chocolate eyes of hers and Laxus caved. "Damn it. Fine, but I'm not leaving. Whatever you have to do, I'll be there with you. I won't interfere unless the bastard does something that warrants it."

Lucy managed a small smile. "I suppose I can't talk you out of it huh?"

"You can't get rid of me so easily Lu."

Lucy sighed, knowing she wouldn't win this particular battle. "Okay, but don't say a word. This won't take long."

Laxus nodded and joined her in walking to the front door. It was opened before she even knocked.

"Miss Lucy! Welcome home!" Damien, one of her father's staff shouted as more of them began to crowd the entrance. "A-And who might this be?" He asked as he took in the overwhelming presence of the dragon slayer.

"This is my friend Laxus. May we come in?" She asked with a smile, since the entryway was practically blocked by butlers, maids and the like.

"Of course, please, please do come in...both of you." Damien added the last part, unsure of how Jude would react to this new visitor.

Lucy walked in with Laxus right behind her, taking in his new surroundings. He had never been in a home so lavish, if you could even call it a home. It was more like a palace.

"I'll notify your father that you've arrived. I'm sure he'll want to speak with you." Damien said as he ushered the two inside and into the drawing room.

"That's fine, thank you. Oh and I was wondering...Did Sepetto ever come back?" Lucy asked.

Damien stood still as the woman's name was mentioned. "Y-Yes, she did. But she's not here any longer." He replied with sadness in his voice.

"Oh, I see. So she was let go then." Lucy's shoulders slumped a little.

"You could say that." Damien added. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with your father." He bowed and quickly left the room, leaving the rest of the staff to fawn over their lost charge.

Laxus stood by the doorway, his arms crossed, back leaning against the wall, watching everyone crowding the blonde and smothering her with affection. Even with all these people in her life, he could only imagine how lonely she must have been as a child, not having anyone her own age to spend time with.

"Miss, if you'll come with me we can get you into some more appropriate attire." A small brunette woman stepped forward and bowed in front of Lucy.

Lucy stood from her spot on the sofa and greeted the woman. "You can call me Lucy. I haven't met you before, what's your name?"

The woman, startled at the casual nature of the blonde before her, struggled to get her words out. "M-Me? my n-name doesn't matter miss."

"I believe it does. And please call me Lucy."

"I-I'm Leona Miss-I mean Lucy."

Lucy giggled at the woman's nervousness. "Nice to meet you Leona. Shall we?" Lucy gestured towards the door.

Laxus smiled at the interaction. The way Lucy could bring calmness and peace to everyone she met was one of the many things he adored about her. He started to follow her out of the drawing room and Leona noticed.

"Sir, I'm afraid you c-cant' accompany us right now, you can w-wait in the drawing room." Leona stuttered out.

Laxus stood his ground, glaring at the meek woman in front of him. Lucy noticed the tension in the air and decided to intervene.

"Don't mind him Leona, he can come up. He won't cause any trouble. Will you?" She looked to him with a slight warning in her eyes that only he would notice.

"No trouble at all." Laxus replied, still as stoic as ever.

The woman looked between Lucy and the intimidating man before reluctantly agreeing. "Right this way please." Leona led the two up the grand staircase and down a long winding hallway.

Lucy knew exactly where she was going, but figured she'd let Leona do her duty. She had already made the woman feel uncomfortable.

They reached a set of golden double doors and Leona and Lucy stopped right outside of them. "If you would please wait out here sir." Leona asked kindly.

Laxus just nodded, figuring it was just the two of them, what could go wrong?

On the other side of the building, Jude was finishing up a conversation on the phone when he heard a knock at his door.

"Yes, I understand Ivan. Yes we have an agreement..."

Damien poked his head in when he didn't hear an answer.

"S-Sir...a moment of your time please? It's important."

"What is it Damien? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?!" Jude barked out.

"My apologies sir, it's just that..that you have a v-visitor."

"Well make them wait, I'm busy." Jude put the receiver back up to his ear to resume his conversation.

"Uh-Sir, it's you daughter sir." Damien choked out.

Jude's face froze for a second. "Ivan, I'll have to call you back, something's come up."

"It better be important Jude." Ivan snapped.

"That it is. You'll hear from me soon."

"Good, I'll be waiting." The line then disconnected.

"Lucy is here?" Jude asked the butler.

"Yes sir, she's accompanied by a blonde male as well. Shall I have her prepared and sent to you?"

Jude's eyes widened at hearing she wasn't alone. After hearing about the disaster that was his hiring of Phantom Lord to attack the Fairies, he was sure he'd be hearing from them soon. He just didn't expect that Lucy would come in person. Jude had already started a new plan in motion.

"Yes please do that."

"And what about her companion?"

"Have him removed from the premises, by any means necessary." Jude said coldly before turning his chair to face the window, watching the setting sun.

"Yes sir, right away sir." Damien hurriedly replied before he ran out of the room.

Laxus was leaning against the wall outside of what he presumed used to be Lucy's bedroom. He could hear that Leona woman chatting about this and that, while Lucy answered in short one or two word responses. He didn't get why she had to change to see her dad. As he pondered everything, he could hear footsteps coming his way. Laxus pushed himself off the wall and looked down the hall in both directions, not seeing a thing. But his dragon senses were telling him everything he needed to know. There were four of them, wearing combat boots and they were coming closer. He readied himself and faced the west hallway, they were approaching now, he could see them.

Laxus decided to wait a bit, this could be fun.

"Sir, please leave the Konzern now. If you don't we will make you leave. By force."

"Oh really?" Laxus smirked. "I'd like to see you try." He cracked his knuckles as small volts of electricity arched around his body. The four security guys looked to each other in trepidation before the leader signaled for all of them to go after him at once. They each took out their blades and charged.

Laxus smiled, looking forward to some action. He pushed his magic into his hands before shooting it at each of the four swords, the electricity going through the metal and shocking the four men eliciting grunts and shouts as they fell unconscious.

The dragon slayer chuckled. "Well that wasn't much of a fight."

Lucy heard the commotion outside and slammed the doors open to see Laxus facing her and behind him the four bodies of the knocked out security men.

"What the hell happened here?!"

"I had a little unwanted company, so I took care of 'em." Laxus stated matter of factly.

"Leona, I thought it wasn't a problem that Laxus was here." Lucy turned to the woman.

"I suppose master Jude didn't appreciate it. I apologize Lucy." Leona bowed.

Lucy was fuming mad and fisted her good hand at her hips. The pink ball gown she was wearing made the action look comical.

Laxus had to take a step back to take it all in. She truly was stunning in the light pink dress, although it was a little much in his opinion, she looked like royalty.

"That's it!" Lucy screamed. "I've just about enough of his shit!" She picked up her skirt and started running down the east hallway.

Laxus ran to catch up with her. "Such language. That's not very becoming of a princess ya know."

"This isn't a time for jokes Laxus. That man has gone too far!"

"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood a bit." He put his hands up in surrender as they both continued running down the hallway.

Lucy rolled her eyes and kept running until she came to a giant pair of doors on the complete opposite side of the property.

"You wait out here, this is between my father and I." She looked up to Laxus with a fire in her eyes he had never seen.

He just nodded in agreement as he watched her throw the doors open and barge in.

Jude looked up suddenly from his paperwork to see his daughter storming towards him.

"Ah, Lucy dear. So nice to see you. I see you've come to your senses and returned home. I've taken the liberty of setting up a meeting between you and the Prince of Alvarez..."

"Cut the shit dad! How could you!?" Lucy screamed as she shoved all the paperwork off of his desk.

His eyes narrowed to slits for a moment before his regal composure was gained once more. "Now, now my love. There is no need to be upset. This is just business after all. You need to get married and produce an heir to my fortune. I see Jose didn't keep his promise of not harming you. That is very upsetting."

"Upsetting? That's all you have to say? I almost get killed, the guildhall is destroyed and my family is injured and you're just upset? Do you have any idea what you did? I'm your daughter! Do you care so little for me that you would risk my life to get me back?

"I'm quite aware of my actions Lucy and yes I'm upset. I'm upset that my daughter, the heiress to the Heartfilia Konzern is out galavanting with wizard trash! I'm upset that she decided that being a mage is more important than her future, her family! Me Lucy! I'm your real family, not them!" Jude spoke sternly, his voice steadily rising. He got out of his chair and stood by his desk, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Family wouldn't do what you did. Family looks out for one another, loves one another and supports each other. Since when did you do any of that? Everything you have done for me has been in your best interest, not mine. Ever since mom died you've become a selfish hateful man! I've come here not to return to you, but to tell you that I'm leaving for good. Fairy Tail is my home, my family. They protected me, and stood up for my while you got a hired gun to do your dirty work! No father that truly loves their child would do something like this!" Lucy shouted at the top of her lungs.

Jude rushed over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, squeezing them hard.

"You, are not going anywhere. You will stay here, get married and carry on my legacy. You have NO idea what I've done for you! It's all been for you Lucy, but you're too blinded by your own selfish interests to see that!"

"Dad, you're hurting me. Let go!" Lucy protested, her right shoulder in excruciating pain.

Laxus could hear the whole thing and was just waiting for the right moment to bust in there and give the asshole a piece of his mind. Thankfully he now had his opportunity. He kicked the door down and flashed over to the pair, lifting Jude up by the collar of his dress shirt up over his head.

"Touch her again and it'll be the last thing you do." He growled out, his inner dragon starting to take over, his fangs becoming visible.

Jude's eyes became comically wide as he became frantic and tried kicking and squirming his way out of Laxus' hold. "You've made a big mistake. You don't know who you're dealing with. I can crush Fairy Tail with a stroke of my pen!"

Laxus chuckled. "Might want to try a different tactic old man, cause the last time that happened, it backfired." Laxus then brought Jude down to his eye level, their noses almost touching. "If you EVER try to get in touch with this woman again, I will kill you. I don't care if you're her dear old dad or not. No father behaves like you have. You're scum and I don't want to see your sniveling little face ever again. Got it?"

He then threw Jude across the room and his back hit his desk. He cried out in pain then fell to his knees.

"You will regret this. Fairy Tail will regret this." He breathed out between grunts of pain.

"I don't think so father. I wished this could have turned out differently. I suppose this is goodbye." She then ripped the bodice of her dress off, revealing her midriff with her good arm and tore at the hem as well, until the skirts were above her knees. "That's better." She said to herself.

She then turned to walk towards the door.

Laxus stared at her for a moment, admiring her figure before she turned back over her shoulder. "Are you coming?"

"Y-Yea." He stuttered as he turned to glare at the man on the ground. with that he followed Lucy out of the office.

They walked past all the servants who had heard the commotion and stared at them with shocked expressions. They paid them no mind as they walked right out the front door. No words were spoken until they reached the gate. Lucy turned back and looked up to the window of her father's office. There he was looking right at her. A tear fell down her cheek as she looked at her father for what was probably the last time, before she turned away and continued walking.

Laxus put his arm around her and pulled her close. He knew there were no words that would help her right now. She just needed to know she wasn't alone. And she truly wasn't. She wouldn't ever be alone again. Laxus knew in that moment, whether it was him or his inner dragon, that He would always be with her.

"Let's go home Lu." He stood in front of her and held her close. Lucy just nodded, knowing what he was planning. Withing moments, they were standing in front of her townhouse, the hairs on her arms still standing on end. They both looked up to see the lights on in her house. It was past dusk now, but she couldn't sworn she had turned all the lights off before she left.

Laxus moved her behind himself as he started walking up the stairs to the front door, with Lucy following closely behind. He checked the door to see if it was open, but it was still locked.

"Key." He held out his hand in waiting.

"O-Oh, yes. I suppose you might need that." Lucy fished out her key and handed it to him. Once they were both inside he handed it back to her then looked out to her living room to see Team Natsu staring right back at them.

In a moment of realization, everyone quickly stood up and rushed the pair. "Lucy!" "Luce, you're alright!" "Lushy you're back! did you bring any fish?" "

The celestial mage embraced her friends then took a step back and her aura instantly changed to one of frightening proportions.

"What are you doing in my HOUSE?!"

They all froze for a moment before Natsu spoke up. "Well, where else were we going to wait for you? Besides you've got the best place Luce!"

Gray nodded. "We figured when you came back you'd head straight for home, so why not wait here?"

"So you broke into your team mates house?" Laxus asked.

"We didn't break in, we went through the window!" Happy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's called breaking in cat." Lucy growled out.

"Well, whether or not we broke into your house, we're glad to have you back home. Here, sit down. I've made some tea." Erza ushered the tired looking Lucy over to her own couch.

"I should be the one offering you tea. And how did you know where I keep my tea? Were you all snooping around while I was gone?"

"Well, yea, what else would we do while we wait for you." Natsu asked honestly.

"Yea Lushy, you've got some crazy looking underwear!" Happy chimed in.

Lucy's face became beet red and she began to chase happy around the room.

Laxus shook his head in disbelief. How she agreed to join this team was beyond him, although he appreciated their care and concern for her, they went about it in unusual ways. He smirked a bit when he pictured just what kind of underwear she actually owned.

So Team Natsu and Laxus sat in Lucy's living room and chatted for a bit, Lucy not wanting to go into details about what happened just a few hours ago. Laxus noticed her yawning and decided it was time to call it a night.

"It's getting late. You can chat more with her later. Lucy's had a rough day and could use some sleep."

"It is getting rather late. We'll take our leave. But shouldn't you be doing the same?" Erza questioned.

"I'll be right behind you." Laxus replied.

"Very well. Come Natsu, Gray, Happy, let's head home."

The team said their goodbyes and Lucy closed her front door behind them.

"Looks like I'll have to start dead bolting my windows now."

"Wouldn't be a bad idea." Laxus chuckled a bit. "You gonna be okay?"

"I, I don't know to be honest. I will be eventually, but right now, I don't know what to think."

Laxus walked up to her and enveloped her in a hug. "You don't need to think right now. Just be." They stayed in the embrace for a moment before Laxus broke it.

"Let's get you upstairs and ready for bed." Lucy nodded her head and then squeaked out in surprise when Laxus gently picked her up princess style and made his way upstairs.

Lucy blushed in his arms as Laxus looked down at her.

"You don't need to carry me, I can walk you know."

"Maybe I want to." Was the only response she received, which made her just blush all the more. Laxus smiled a genuine smile, getting a kick out of her shyness.

They reached her bedroom and he set her down so she could grab her things and head to the master bathroom. Laxus patiently waited for her as she went through her nightly routine. When she emerged a few minutes later she stood in the entryway not sure what to do or say. Laxus eyed her up and down, admiring her sleep wear. She had on a tight cami and a pair of small black shorts. He remembered this ensemble from when they lived together. Lucy shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Well, are you going to get in bed or not?" He teased.

"U-Um yea. I guess."

Lucy moved towards the bed and got under the covers. Laxus walked up to her and began to tuck her in. "G'night Lu. I'll see you tomorrow." Once she was comfy and cozy, he turned to leave.

"Wait, Lax. C-Could you please s-stay? I don't want to be alone tonight."

He stood still for a moment pretending to consider it. He honestly wasn't expecting that, but he definitely wasn't about to turn her down. "Sure Lu." He turned off the main light and walked over to the other side of the bed, removing his coat and putting it over the chair in front of her desk. He continued to strip down until he was left in his boxers. Lucy blushed and covered her eyes with her hand, sneakily moving her fingers apart far enough to get a peak. Laxus chuckled at her antics and slid under the covers to join her.

At this point she wondered what in the hell she was thinking. She didn't think she was ready to sleep in a bed with Laxus when he was practically naked. But more than that, she didn't want to sleep alone. She told herself to get over it and made herself comfortable.

Laxus scooted closer to her and wrapped his muscular arm over her torso. "Sweet dreams." He kissed the top of her head.

"Night Laxy."

Sleep quickly claimed them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many feels! Sorry this chapter was so long. Thanks to all of you who read through the whole thing! I suppose I just had a lot to say in this one.
> 
> So for the following chapters, I'll be playing around a bit with the canon story arcs, I might skip a few here and there before I get to the main arc of this fic. I plan for this to be a looong story. :) Plenty of Lalu included, so stick around! :) :) :)


	18. Growing Feelings

Chapter 18: Growing Feelings

Laxus woke up feeling refreshed and whole. He looked over to the still sleeping blonde in his arms and smiled a rare, genuine smile. She was home again, and she planned to stay. He was obviously concerned when he read her letter yesterday, and even after he confronted her at her father's home. But when he heard her speaking to the man, his heart warmed with relief, admiration and pride. Lucy would always be a part of Fairy Tail, this is her true home.

He leaned in close until his nose brushed up against her golden locks and inhaled her scent. It was intoxicating like always, and one that he was sure he couldn't live without. As he pulled away, he removed his arm from around her waist, trying not to wake her. She stirred slightly but remained in her peaceful looking slumber. Laxus stayed there, his head propped up by his hand and just watched her. He was awestruck by her beauty, even in sleep with a little drool on her pillow and her mouth slightly agape. Her hair matted here and there. In Laxus' eyes she would always be beautiful.

As he watched her sleeping form, he realized that he was falling for his best friend. And hard. He didn't just see her as nakama anymore. He supposed he hadn't for a while now. When that changed, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was when she returned? Or when they were renovating her house together? Maybe he'd known since they were children. In the end it didn't matter.

Ever since the lacrima was implanted in him, Laxus' gut instincts were much more pronounced and fierce. When Lucy returned, his inner dragon purred in content. He wasn't sure what it had meant at the time, but he was starting to get it now. As he grew up with his newfound dragon slayer abilities, he and Makarov hit the books, looking into every and any resource they could to try and understand Laxus's new magic. Laxus had found one book in particular that he ended up keeping from his grandfather, and hiding under his bed. It happened to be on dragon slayer's physiology, and most interesting to a 14 year old Laxus, mating.

He learned how when a dragon slayer found their mate, they would become fiercely protective, possessive even. They would have the urge to mark their mates, actually mixing their magic's together, bonding them for life. At least that's what he remembered from it. Now that he thought about it, he should probably read that book again. Laxus thought when the right woman came along, he would know. But it appears that it's taken him a while. Until now that is. He wasn't one hundred percent sure, but he had a feeling Lucy could be the one. It terrified and excited him at the same time. He knew if he just dumped all of this info on her she would probably run for the hills. So as it was, Laxus was just content with letting things progress naturally, much to the chagrin of his inner dragon.

As his trail of thoughts came to an end, he turned over to look at the time. 10am already. He sighed, not thinking he would have overslept so much. Carefully he untangled himself from the sheets and grabbed his pants from the floor, lazily putting them on then padding out the bedroom door and downstairs.

Lucy opened one eye slowly, then the other. She had suddenly felt cold and wasn't sure why. She rolled over to see the space beside her was empty, the mattress still indented from it's earlier occupant. Lucy thought back to the events of the previous day and smiled to herself. She had planned on doing it all on her own, she didn't want her Fairy Tail family to get anymore involved than they already were. But Laxus showed up, and she was so glad he did. Lucy blushed a little when she looked back to the empty side of the bed. She had slept in the same bed as Laxus Dreyar...and he was practically naked. She wouldn't deny that she found her best friend attractive. When she first saw him after all those years, she remembered a warm feeling flowing throughout her entire being and nervousness engulfing her. She looked to her nightstand to see the star pendant sitting there, slightly scuffed up. She had yet to get it restrung as a necklace. She would have to do that soon.

It wasn't long before a delectable aroma wafted into her room and she took a deep breath to savor it. So he hadn't left after all. Lucy smirked and hopped out of bed and into the bathroom. As she looked in the mirror she frowned at the birds nest that was her morning hair. She had no idea how it got so bad every morning, but it did. After some preening, she got it up into a messy bun and made her way downstairs.

She was met with the bare back of Laxus as he faced her stove, flipping some pancakes. His muscles rippling with every movement. She stood there for a moment admiring his perfect physique.

"Like what you see Lu?" He said still facing the stove.

Lucy blushed hard, thankful he couldn't see her reaction. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I heard you coming down the stairs, sounded like an elephant stampede." He chuckled.

Lucy walked up to him and punched him playfully in the arm. "Hey! I do not sound like an elephant when I go down stairs."

"Could've fooled me." He looked to her and smirked.

"Meanie." Lucy stuck out her tongue then smiled. She leaned her back against the counter. "Smells wonderful."

"Good, because I made your favorite. And a lot of it. At least I hope it's still your favorite."

Lucy's eyes lit up and she jumped up and down in anticipation. "Blueberry pancakes?! You remember after all these years?"

Laxus nodded as he checked on the bacon sizzling in the pan next to the pancakes. "I remember everything." He said, not looking at her face so she wouldn't see the slight blush on his cheeks.

Lucy walked behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him. "Thank you. It all smells so delicious. I can't wait."

"It'll be ready soon. I made some coffee over there too if you want." He gestured with his head to the kitchen island where the coffee pot was percolating away.

"Perfect thanks!" Lucy walked over to the cabinet and took out two mugs, cream and sugar. She prepared herself a cup and sat at the island while she watched Laxus plate everything up. She blew on the coffee to cool it and took a deep breath while closing her eyes, enjoying it's aroma.

Laxus looked over to the blonde for a moment and his heart beat a little bit faster. This is the way it's supposed to be, waking up together and eating breakfast. It felt so natural, so right.

In no time Laxus brought everything to the table and served Lucy her plate of pancakes with bacon and eggs before getting two plates for himself.

Lucy grabbed her fork and brought the first bite to her mouth, Laxus waiting for her reaction. She chewed, eyes closed. A small moan escaped her. She opened her eyes after she swallowed and locked eyes with him.

"Well?" Laxus prodded.

Lucy smiled and sighed. "These, are the best. pancakes. I've. Ever. Had." then popped another bite in her mouth. "Can you cook for me forever please?" She giggled.

Laxus froze for a second, then swallowed his own bite. He had a feeling it was just a joking rhetorical question, but every part of him wanted to answer her.

"Sure."

Because he really would. He would cook her breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of her days if that's what she wanted.

Lucy looked up at him, her cheeks a slight rosy color. She shyly smiled at him and looked back to her plate.

"By the way, I-I want to thank you, for yesterday. I know I said I wanted to do it alone, but I-I'm glad you came." Lucy stuttered out. She had no idea why she was so nervous.

"Lu, I wasn't about to let you confront him alone."

"Well, thanks."

"Anytime."

A few moments of comfortable silence ensued. Laxus remembering about the date he offered before all the phantom lord shit happened. He wondered if she would still be interested or if she needed more time to decompress. He came to the conclusion that now was as good a time as any.

"Lulu, what are you plans for today?"

Lucy looked up, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Hmm, I don't know. I suppose I'll head to the guild and help in the rebuild. Why do you ask?"

"Well, if you remember, before I left for my job...I asked you out on a date. And if I'm recalling correctly, you said yes."

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise before she blushed a little. "Actually, y-yea, I do remember that."

Laxus smirked. "So how about tonight? We could go out for dinner and drinks"

"O-Okay, I'd like that."

"Good. I'll pick you up at 7pm then." He finished his food and picked up Lucy's empty plate as well, as he went into the kitchen.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Lucy rushed after him.

"What do you mean? I'm doing the dishes." Laxus responded, setting everything in the sink.

"Oh no you don't mister! You're not cooking me an amazing breakfast AND cleaning up! I'm taking over from here." She hip-bumped him and took his spot in front of the sink.

Laxus raised his hands up in surrender. "Fine, have it your way." He teased. Lucy smiled proudly back at him then went about her task. Laxus left the kitchen and went upstairs to grab his things.

He did it. He actually did it. He asked Lucy Heartfilia out on a date and she said yes. If he was one for publicly displaying emotions he'd be fist pumping the air right now. Ah what the hell, no one's around. He did a celebratory fist pump as he entered her bedroom. He grabbed his shirt and got dressed, throwing his coat over his shoulder.

Once downstairs, he walked up behind Lucy who was still washing dishes, putting his hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly, surprised by his appearance.

"Sorry, I just wanted to let you know I have to take off. I'm going to see if Gramps needs anything. I'll probably see you at the guild later okay?"

Lucy nodded while looking over her shoulder. "Okay sounds good."

"And don't forget. I'll be here to pick you up at 7pm. And wear something nice." He smirked.

Lucy nodded once more. Laxus waved and let himself out.

She set down the plate she was scrubbing and smiled to herself. She was going on her first date, with Laxus!

A little while later Lucy arrived at the guild in a pair of old jeans and a gray fitted tshirt, ready to work. Even with her arm in a sling she could still help out here and there. She spotted her team in the courtyard, planting some new greenery.

"Hi guys!" Lucy yelled as she ran up to them.

"Lushy!" Happy squealed.

"Hey Luce! How're you feeling today?" Natsu asked putting down his shovel.

"A lot better, thanks Natsu." Lucy replied.

"Lucy, good to see you. You look refreshed, I'm guessing you got a good nights sleep?" Erza spoke up behind Natsu.

"Yes, I did actually." Lucy blushed slightly, trying to hide it.

Erza eyed her suspiciously. "What time did Laxus end up leaving. He didn't stay too late I hope?"

Lucy froze at the question and poked her fingers together in nervousness. "W-Well, he d-didn't actually l-leave."

Erza's eyes widened and Gray and Natsu's heads spun to face her. Happy stopped flying around and sat there in midair.

"He what?!" Erza asked ominously.

Lucy waved her arms in front of her frantically. "It's not like that. We just slept together...I mean we literally slept. Nothing happened. I just didn't want to be alone." She tried to placate the requip mage.

Before Lucy could blink, Erza requipped a sword in her hand and looked around. "Where is he? I'm going to kill him."

Lucy grabbed Erza by the arm before she could hunt down the lightning mage. "Please Erza, it's fine. He's my best friend, I just needed him around is all."

Erza locked eyes with her before relenting and getting rid of the weapon. "I better not hear that he did anything. If he dishonors you in any way..."

"I know, I know." Lucy comforted.

"Hey, I thought we were your best friends!?" Natsu asked. Gray nodding right next to him.

Lucy turned to the two boys and exceed. "Oh, you are! You're my team, my family!"

"You can't have more than one best friend." Gray chimed in.

"I care for all you very very much. But Laxus, I've known him the longest, since we were kids. It's a special kind of friendship."

"She liiiikkkes him." Happy teased.

"I do not!" Lucy retorted.

Happy just giggled behind his paws.

"Anyways...I'm here to help. So what are you guys doing?" Lucy tried to change the subject.

"We're planting stuff. Here, you can help dig holes with me." Natsu threw a shovel at her. She barely caught it with her left hand and set it down. "Natsu, I can't dig holes with one arm you know."

"O-Oh yea. Sorry Luce."

"Lucy, you can help me trim the shrubs up once their planted." Erza came up and put a small pair of shears in Lucy's left hand.

"Sounds good." Lucy smiled and joined her team.

Throughout the day Lucy assisted her friends in planting new shrubs around the courtyard, trying to keep them from Natsu since he kept starting them on fire. It was all in a days work with team Natsu.

She looked up from what she was doing to see Laxus speaking with Master and Mira. He saw her out of the corner of his eye and looked her way, winking at her. She blushed at the action and went back to her task. It didn't go unnoticed by her teammates or Master Makarov or Mira.

"So Lucy, would you like to go check out a new bakery tonight? I've heard they have excellent strawberry cake." Erza asked.

"Oh well, actually, I kind of have a-a date." She responded shyly.

Everyone's heads popped up in her direction.

"With who?" Gray asked, concern lacing his features.

"It's uh, well it's-it's Laxus."

"WHAT?!" Her team shouted in unison.

"See, told you she liiikkesss him." Happy teased.

Lucy's cheeks were as red as a tomato. "Whatever cat. It's just a date guys, no big deal."

"Well, then I'll assist you in getting ready." Erza decided, not bothering to ask the celestial spirit mage.

"Um-okay." Lucy conceded. She knew it wasn't a good idea to deny Erza, though she was confused as to why she'd want to help her get ready for a date with Laxus when just moments before she was ready to kill him for staying the night at her house.

After the excitement died down, they continued working through the afternoon, and had finally finished planting everything. Lucy said her goodbyes and she and Erza went back to her place to get ready for her date.

The two were currently in Lucy's bedroom, going through her closet.

"He said wear something nice. Does that mean a dress?" Lucy asked as she looked at her wardrobe.

"That depends. Do you know where he's taking you?"

Lucy stopped and looked back at Erza who was sitting on her bed.

"He said dinner and drinks."

"Dress it is then." Erza stood and joined Lucy in her walk-in closet.

After trying on several options, they both agreed on a dark purple long sleeved number. It had a high neck line but was basically backless. It hugged her curves nicely, and was suggestive without being overly so. She had picked it up recently on a shopping trip with Erza, Levy, Cana, and Mira.

She then moved onto hair and makeup. Erza suggested she wear her hair down in lose waves, Lucy loved the idea.

"So, you two have gotten pretty close since you came back." Erza commented while applying Lucy's mascara.

"I suppose we have. He and I were always close friends, I even thought of him like a brother...but that's changed now. I just feel so comfortable around him, like it's where I'm meant to be, by his side ya know? That probably sounds silly, but I don't know any other way to explain how I feel about him except that it feels right."

Erza finished up and nodded. "I understand. I apologize for earlier today. As your team mate and friend, I feel it's my duty to make sure you aren't taken advantage of, even if it's a fellow guild member."

"I know, you're just looking out for me. And I wouldn't have it any other way." Lucy smiled back.

"Well, I suppose I should head home. Have a great evening Lucy. I want to hear all about it tomorrow." The two women made their way downstairs. Just as Erza was about to open the front door, the doorbell rang.

Erza stepped aside with a small smirk on her face as Lucy walked up to open it.

There was Laxus leaning against the porch railing looking sexy as ever in a grey suit and navy blue button down shirt. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and they both looked one another up and down before addressing each other.

Laxus smirked and walked towards the door. "Hey Lu. You ready?"

Lucy came out of her daze of seeing Laxus in a suit and nodded. "Yes, just one sec, I need to grab my keys." She walked over to her dining room table.

Laxus made to come in but was stopped by the requip mage. "She'll just be a moment."

Lucy grabbed her keys and a small clutch and turned around to see Erza barring Laxus entry to her home.

"Erza." She sighed. "Is that really necessary?"

She didn't respond to the question. "Have a good time Lucy." She turned to face Laxus. "You will treat her with respect and honor. If I hear otherwise, you will experience my wrath."

Laxus rolled his eyes. "What are you, her mother?"

Erza thought a moment before responding. "I might as well be. Heed my words Dreyar, I meant them."

Laxus dismissed her with his hand while he ushered Lucy out of the house. She waved to Erza and they walked out the door. Lucy got to the sidewalk before she quickly turned around.

"Wait a minute, aren't you supposed to be leaving too?"

Erza paused before she smiled softly. "O-oh yes, I suppose I should." She walked back in, turned off the lights except for the porch and closed and locked the door behind her.

Lucy nodded her thanks and the two walked down the street, Erza going in the opposite direction towards Fairy hills.

Laxus wrapped his arm around her, settling it on her waist. Lucy froze a bit at first but settled into it as they kept walking. Laxus leaned down so he was next to her ear.

"You look gorgeous tonight Lu."

She looked up to see a kind, sexy smile on his face. "T-Thanks." She blushed. "You don't look too bad yourself. I didn't even know you owned a suit."

Laxus chuckled at that. "Well, I do. A few actually. I just wear them for special occasions, which don't happen that often."

Lucy didn't think she could blush any harder than she already was, but apparently she could. It warmed her heart to think that Laxus put so much importance on their evening.

"So this is a special occasion then?" Even though she already knew the answer, she wanted to hear it come from his own lips.

"What do you think?" He countered.

She was thrown off by the response, but decided to play their little game of words. "I...I think it is."

"As do I." He replied.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while until Lucy got the courage to speak once again. She had never been so nervous in her life and it was driving her crazy.

"Where are we going tonight?"

"It's a surprise. You'll see soon enough." He replied cryptically.

Lucy nodded, excited for what was to come. After walking for another block, she noticed they had entered the garden district, a high class neighborhood filled with 5 star restaurants, shops, and clubs. Laxus stopped walking, his arm still around her.

"Here we are."

Lucy looked up at the building in front of her. It was very modern with a grey and black exterior with soft blue lights lighting up a sign that said 'Bloom'. Her eyes went wide at realizing where they were. This was the hottest new bar and restaurant in Magnolia, and very hard to get into. She and the girls had been trying for weeks now since it opened, but to no avail. There was already a long line out on the sidewalk to get in.

She looked over to her date for the night, a little awestruck. "Bloom?" Was all she could get out.

Laxus softly chuckled again as he moved his arm and rested his hand lightly on her back to guide her inside, relishing in the feel of her soft skin beneath his calloused fingertips. "Yea, I know a guy that works here, I did a job for him a while back." They started walking to the door, past the line of people who all gave them dirty looks for cutting in line.

"Oh, I see. That makes sense." Lucy said as she eyed the line warily, wondering why there weren't getting in it themselves.

As they reached the entrance, the door man stopped them for a moment before Laxus whispered something to him and the man nodded and let them through. Lucy had no idea what was happening but was glad they didn't have to wait in line, that would've taken forever. Once they were inside, they were greeted by a host dressed in all black. "Good evening. Do you have a reservation?"

"Dreyar."

The man checked his handheld device for a moment before nodding. "Very good Mr. Dreyar, and will you be dining with us, or enjoying the lounge?"

"Dining."

"I see, very well. Please follow me." The host bowed and walked through a short hallway that led to a modest sized dining room exquisitely decorated with crystal chandeliers, rich mahogany woods and silks.

The place wasn't very busy, which confused Lucy since there were so many people waiting to get inside. The host led them to a secluded table, left for a moment and came back with a bottle in his hands.

"Compliments of Bardo himself." He recited as he showed the bottle and poured it's contents into the two flutes at the table. Lucy eyed the bubbly liquid as it was poured into the glass.

"Bardo?" She looked at Laxus questioningly.

"Yea, he's the one I did the job for. He owns this place." Laxus said nonchalantly as he took a sip from the flute and nodded to the host who bowed once more and walked away to tend to another table.

"You know the owner of Bloom?" Lucy asked astonished. She never pegged Laxus as someone who shmoozed with people in high society. She supposed that if he did a job for this Bardo guy, he must have done very well to be able to call in this favor.

Laxus nodded his head. "You seem surprised."

"Well, it's just that I didn't expect you to have these sorts of connections I guess. You just never seemed like the type to enjoy this kind of place." Lucy took a sip of her own champagne, enjoying the crispness as it went down her throat.

"I'm usually not, but like I said earlier, this is a special occasion."

"Y-You didn't have to go through all this trouble for one date with m-me" She stuttered.

Laxus smirked at her nervousness. "I know, but I wanted to, and hopefully this one date will lead to many more." Lucy blushed harder and Laxus chuckled a bit.

Lucy looked up to the sound to see him looking right at her. "What's so funny?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Nothin'. It's just you're unusually shy right now. It's not like you to stumble over your words."

"W-Well, I...It's just that..." She tried to articulate what she was thinking but her mouth wasn't synching with her brain. She took a deep breath, deciding it would be best to just be truthful, after all, it's her best friend that's sitting across from her right now and he's being open with her.

"I don't remember the last time I was this nervous." She confessed.

Laxus reached out and held onto her left hand that was fidgeting with a napkin. "It's just me Lu, no need to be nervous." On the outside he was the epitome of calm, but inside he was a jittery mess. It was taking everything he had to keep his hand from shaking in hers. His other one was under the table shaking like a leaf. When he became such a pussy, he didn't know. He'd been on plenty of dates with women and was always in control of the situation, but here, sitting across from Lucy, his calm facade was hanging by a thread.

Lucy smiled and squeezed his hand. "I'll try."

Just then a large man wearing a flashy suit walked up to the pair.

"Laxus!" He slapped the slayer on the back. "Long time no see!"

"Bardo. Yea, it's been a while."

"I'm so glad you could stop by. What do you think of the place." Bardo asked, a cheesy smile gracing his features.

"It's nice. You've outdone yourself." Laxus replied.

"Oh, thank you, You're too kind. And who is this stunning lady?" Bardo looked over to Lucy.

Laxus smirked over at her. "This is Lucy." She stood up and held her good hand out to Bardo.

"Hi, you must be Bardo. Laxus has told me all about you. It's an honor to be here enjoying your fine establishment."

"The pleasure is mine." Bardo kissed Lucy's hand, eliciting a low growl from the sitting slayer.

Bardo stood back and nervously smiled at Laxus who had a stern look on his face.

"Well, here is our tasting menu for the evening. There will be five courses. Please let me know if you need anything." Bardo smiled at the two and scurried away.

Laxus' growl did not go unnoticed by the celestial mage. "What was that about?"

"What do you mean?"

Lucy looked up from the menu. "You growled at him."

"Tch. I didn't like the way he was looking at you." Laxus grumbled.

Lucy giggled softly as she went back to her menu.

"What's so funny?" It was now Laxus' turn to ask the question.

"Oh, nothing really. Just that you were jealous of an overweight middle age man who would never have a chance with me, and you know it." She smirked at him.

"Tch." Laxus looked at his menu, a slight dusting of pink on his cheeks.

The rest of the meal went very well. They discussed their teenage years and guild life before Lucy returned. They talked about everything from their favorite music to their favorite color. Laxus soaking in every detail. Lucy finding that they had more in common than she thought or hoped.

They finished their dinner and thanked Bardo before walking back home. Laxus put his arm around her once more, this time Lucy automatically leaned in to him with out hesitation.

They reached Lucy's house and walked up to the porch.

"Lax, I had such a good time tonight. Thank you."

Laxus took a step closer and cupped her cheek with his hand. "So did I."

They stood like that for what felt like forever, just looking into each others eyes, Lucy wondering what was going through his mind.

"What are you thinking about right now?" She asked.

His lips turned up in a small smile that somehow reached his eyes as well.

"Just that you're so beautiful, and I want to kiss you so damn badly."

Before Lucy could respond, his lips were on hers, taking her breath away. The kiss was deep and filled with adoration and love. Laxus began backing her up until her back came up against her front door. She brought her hand up and threaded her fingers through his hair, causing him to make a sound similar to a purr. Lucy loved it and tugged on his locks a little. Laxus responded by getting as close as possible to her, moving one hand to her waist, not breaking the kiss for a moment.

Laxus knew he wouldn't be able to control himself much longer, if he didn't stop soon, his inner dragon would take over and he didn't want that to happen, not yet anyway. He had so much he wanted to say to her before that ever came to pass. He needed to know if she felt the same, and he knew the first date was not the time to be asking her if she wanted to mate him for life.

So he broke the kiss, giving them both time to catch their breaths. He rested his forehead against hers and looked into her lust filled, half lidded eyes. Before he had the chance to say anything, she beat him to it.

"Lax, what are we?" She almost whispered.

He definitely wasn't expecting that. He lifted his head to get a better look at her. Her skin illuminated by the moonlight, her chocolate brown eyes boring into his soul.

"What do you want us to be?" He finally responded. He wanted to put the ball in her court. He knew what he wanted them to be, but what mattered was what she wanted.

Lucy looked down to her feet, trying to figure out the right words to say. Her feelings for the man in front of her defied explanation.

She finally looked back up to him and grabbed his hand, doing their secret handshake from all those years ago.

"More, I want to be more."

Laxus brought up his other hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. "More than what Lu?"

"...More than best friends."

That was all he needed to hear before he crashed his lips onto hers once more. This kiss more passionate and love filled than the last. Their intentions out in the open now. Laxus grabbed her leg and wrapped it around his torso, lifting her dress up and rubbing her thigh. He had never felt skin so soft. Lucy moved her hand to his shirt, fisting it in her grasp, trying to pull him as close as possible, while moaning into the kiss from his electrifying touch. Laxus nibbled on her lower lip, creating an opening that his tongue wasn't going to pass up. His appendage explored every inch of her mouth, savoring her taste of strawberries and what Laxus could only describe as a spring day.

He never wanted to let go of the woman in his arms. He wanted to hold her for eternity. But the more heated things became, the more his inner dragon rattled its cage, trying to get out. In all honesty Laxus wanted nothing more than to know what it felt like to be inside of her, and sink his fangs into her delicate flesh, marking her as his own, but he knew he couldn't, not right now.

So he once again broke the kiss and nuzzled his head in her neck.

"When can I see you again?" He whispered into her ear.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the guild." Lucy breathed out, not sure what he was asking.

"That's not what I meant. When can I see you again...like this. Just us, no guild."

Lucy rubbed her cheek against his. "Whenever you want. We are neighbors after all."

Laxus lifted his head. "Good. Because this is just the beginning Lu." He kissed her on the forehead and turned to leave.

"Sweet dreams." He looked back at her.

"You too Lax."

He waved as he walked away.

Lucy sighed and let herself into her house. She would most certainly be having good dreams tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm squeeeeing so hard right now! I loved writing this chapter! Laxus might seem kind of OOC but I figure with their history and everything it made sense. Let me know what you think!
> 
> ~Pamgie


	19. Some New And Familiar Faces

Chapter 19: Some New But Familiar Faces

It was a beautifully sunny morning as Lucy walked to the guild holding Plue in her arms. She couldn't keep the smile off her face if she tried. Her date a few days ago with Laxus couldn't have gone any better and she was excited at the prospect of seeing where the relationship would go.

The guildhall was still undergoing repairs, but surprisingly, it was already nearing completion. Having mages doing the work didn't hurt. They also had a new guild member now as well. Juvia Lockser from phantom lord had walked through the doors one day, looking like a timid kitten and quickly walking up to the bar asking for master Makarov before scurrying up the stairs to his office. Not 15 minutes later the two walked up to the banister and Makarov announced a new addition to the family. Gray stared wide eyed at the woman, and several members of the guild could be heard murmuring under their breaths. But Makarov wasn't having any of it. He said if he could accept her, then we should too, and that seemed to shut everyone up.

Since then, Juvia could be seen hovering around our team's table, at a distance of course, muttering 'gray-sama'. It seems she'd taken a liking to Gray. Gray however, wasn't sure what to think.

So with the addition of Juvia, the repairs went that much quicker.

Lucy had arrived and walked through the doors and made her way to the bar.

"Hello Mira! Strawberry milkshake please." She grinned. Plue wriggled in her arms. "Puun Pun Puuun!" "Oh and a lollipop for Plue please."

"Of course Lucy, coming right up!" Mira winked and got to work on Lucy's order.

"Well hello sweet cheeks."

Lucy jumped a little in her seat, then turned to see Cana sitting on the bar to her right, hugging her morning barrel of beer. Lucy laughed. "Hi puddin' pie!" She shot back.

Cana nudged the blonde with her elbow, a sly look on her face. "So...spill sister. I want all the details!"

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, though she supposed she should have seen this coming. There's really no way to keep anything a secret in this guild. Though she was certainly going to try.

"W-What are you talking about?" She replied with her best confused and innocent looking face.

Cana chuckled and slapped her back. "Come on, I know you and Laxus spent some quality time together the other night. And I want all the juicy details!"

Well so much for trying, Lucy thought. "If you must know, we went on a date." She crossed her arms and huffed.

"Aaannnddd?" Cana prodded. Just then Mira walked by with Lucy's milkshake and Plue's lollipop.

"And, it was..nice."

"That's all you have to say? It was nice?!" Cana shouted.

"I'm sure it was more than just nice Lucy. You've had a twinkle in your eyes for days." Mira interjected, winking at the celestial mage. "I can see it now! Blonde haired blue or gray eyed babies, how adorable!" She crooned.

Lucy sat with her mouth agape. "Really Mira? I go on date with the guy and you're thinking about our children?"

"We all know you two care for each other, and have for a really long time, so it's no surprise to me that you've finally gotten together. I have a feeling this could be the real thing!" Mira squeaked in excitement.

"It's true Lu, we all know how close you two have been since we were all kids." Cana added.

"Well yea, but we also haven't seen each other in years. It's like getting to know him all over again. Which I honestly don't mind. It's just I don't think you guys should be planning our wedding yet or anything."

"We're gettin' married? How come I wasn't informed?"

Lucy spun around in her chair to see Laxus standing over her, a playful smirk on his face.

Her cheeks reddened and she looked away in embarrassment. "W-Well no, it's j-just that.." Lucy started.

"We're just so glad you two went on a date finally, that's all. Oh and you're babies will be beautiful." Mira cooed.

"Tch. Jumping the gun a bit aren't we Mira?" Laxus teased. "Get me a beer will ya?"

"Sure thing, coming up!" Mira chirped and walked away.

"Sorry Laxus, but we have some things to discuss, you can have her back in a few minutes k?" Cana spoke while dragging Lucy away from the bar. Laxus arched his brow at the two women and smirked at the look on his girlfriend's face as she was pulled away with her spirit squirming in her arms. Girlfriend, it has a nice ring to it, he thought.

Once he got his beer from Mira he walked over to his team's regular table and took a seat, focusing his sensitive hearing in on the two women huddled around a table on the opposite side of the hall.

"Okay, seriously. I want all the deets!" Cana whined.

Lucy sighed with a hint of irritation that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"He was a perfect gentleman, and oh mavis Cana can he kiss!" Lucy crooned.

"Ha! I knew it! So you two got down and dirty huh?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that, but we did have a nice little make out session on my porch." Lucy giggled and blushed. Plue dancing in her lap, excited for his key holder.

"I bet that man can do so much more than kiss." Cana looked over to the rajinshuu's table and caught Laxus' eye, winking at him. The lightning mage rolled his eyes and huffed at the brunette's actions.

Lucy looked over a second later and was met with piercing gray blue eyes, his gaze getting more heated by the second. Her blush only deepened.

"I mean come on, he's like sex on a stick for Mavis' sake." Cana chuckled. "To be honest if you hadn't come back into his life, I probably would've hit that."

Lucy's playful demeanor suddenly shifted and her eyes told Cana not to even go there. Even Plue stopped dancing and glared in the card mages direction. "Relax sweetie, I'm all for a romp in the sack, but I never mess with another gal's guy." She placated.

Lucy calmed then and shook her head of the emotions that roared into being. "I know you wouldn't. I just can't help myself you know? I feel like I've always had these growing feelings for him subconsciously, but now I'm actually aware of them and...well it's all a lot to process."

Laxus smiled at that comment because the truth was, he felt the exact same way. He had always thought his feelings were those of deep friendship, but since her return, he was slowly realizing that it was so much more than that. He would never tell anyone he was such a sap though. No one but Lucy would ever see that side of him.

"Hey bossman, what's up. You've got a goofy look on your face." Bickslow cackled. His babies echoing in refrain. "Goofy look! Goofy look!"

Laxus was immediately taken out of his reverie and glared at the mohawked man sitting beside him. "None of your damn business Bix." He quipped.

Bickslow brought both of his hands up in mock surrender. "Relax man, I'm just kiddin' around."

"Tch. Whatever."

In a different part of Magnolia, A raven haired man sat on a broken crate in an alley, his elbows resting on his knees and chewing a hunk of scrap iron that left a lot to be desired.

At the moment, Gajeel was at the lowest point in his life. No home, no guild, no job, and no current prospects. After the destruction of his old guild and apprehension of Jose, Gajeel just started roaming through Magnolia, sleeping wherever was comfortable and scrounging for food wherever he could find it. All he had was the jewels in his pocket. His whole life was phantom lord and now he had no where to go. He hadn't felt this alone since his dragon Metalicana disappeared.

Wallowing in his sorrows, he didn't notice the presence of another approaching him in the alley.

"Gajeel." an older sounding voice rasped out.

He quickly turned his head to the sound. He saw the fierce but kind eyes of none other than Fairy Tail's own guild master Makarov. "Whaddya want old man?" He gruffed out.

"You look a little worse for wear m'boy."

"No thanks to you." Gajeel snapped. "And why the hell do you care?" He dropped his gaze to the ground and bit off another piece of metal what was left of his dinner.

"That's a good question, I'm afraid I'm not sure how to answer it. What I do know is that you're in dire straights at the moment. Do you have plans to join another guild?"

"None of your business. Again, why the hell do you even care? I destroyed your guild hall, and attacked your mages. Why are we even having this conversation right now? I wasn't on my guard, you had your chance, you coulda killed me."

Makarov shook his head. "You think that's why I'm here? To kill you? Is that what you want? Gajeel, you have an opportunity here. You can start over, make up for all you've done and have a fresh start."

Gajeel snapped his head up and glared at the much smaller man he still towered over even though he was sitting on a crate. His scowl soon turned into a smirk and before he knew it himself, he was chuckling. "A fresh start? You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me. I don't do fresh starts geezer. I'm black steel Gajeel, I was, am and always will be cursed to live a life of darkness and pain. That's who I am."

"It doesn't have to be like that anymore. You have the power within you to change that."

He stilled after hearing those words. They sounded so familiar. Maybe something Metalicana once told him.

"What if I don't want to...if I can't." His voice quieted.

"Well I wouldn't give up before you even tried."

"What's your angle old man? Why do you want to help me?" He was genuinely curious now. No one, besides his dragon, and even he wasn't all that supportive, had shown a desire to help him, had seemed like they really cared. And yet here was the guild master of the guild he was hired to destroy. He had butchered some of it's members, kidnapped another. He still could still see the look on that one girls face as he bolted her to the tree. It was a look he had hoped to forget but had been unsuccessful.

"No angle. Not really anyway. One of my new guild members, a friend of yours and former member of phantom lord is concerned about you. She wants to see you back on your feet. From what she tells me, you aren't as bad as you put on. I have the same feeling myself. I think you've just had a hard, hard life up to this point and have done what you could with what you had."

"New guild member? She knows me?" Gajeel wracked his brain trying to think of who it could be. Then it dawned on him. "Juvia." He breathed out.

Makarov nodded his head.

"She joined Fairy Tail?"

Makarov nodded again. "Yes, she came to the guild a few days ago. Apologized profusely and asked to join. I sensed her sincerity, saw that she wanted to to start anew, and who am I to deny her...or anyone that? We've all made mistakes in our lives, some more serious than others, but we all deserve a second chance. That's why I'm here Gajeel. To give you your second chance. I can't say I forgive you for what you've done to my children, no I can't say that. But I can offer you a chance to make things right. Come, join Fairy Tail. You'll have a place to stay and a way to make some jewel, and hopefully a family."

Gajeel's eyes widened in shock. Is this guy serious? Does he really want to invite the man that trashed his guild to join it? Family? He furrowed his brows in thought, silent for several minutes. Makarov just stood there, giving him all the time he needed.

"I...I don't know what to say." Gajeel finally muttered.

"Say you'll come to Fairy Tail. It won't be easy at first, but if you work hard and make an effort to be a productive and supportive mage, I know they'll warm up to you. It's definitely better than this." Makarov gestured to the alley around them.

Gajeel contemplated for a few more moments, then his features took on a steely resolve. "Aw what the hell. What have I got to lose? I'm in."

Lucy had joined Laxus at the table with Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen. He had immediately pulled her into his lap which brought a furious blush to Lucy's cheeks. At this rate she felt like she'd be permanently blushing for the rest of her life.

They all talked for while, Lucy enjoying getting to know them all again after being gone so long. In that moment she knew, there was no where else on Earthland she'd rather be.

Laxus was also enjoying the afternoon at the guild. It felt so right to have Lucy by his side. He felt...content, something he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever. But his moment in paradise was cut short when he smelled something he thought he'd never smell again. Iron and pine.

Laxus' head jerked towards the door, his eyes narrowed and his arm around lucy's waist tightened.

"That fucker. He has the balls to show his face here?" He growled.

Natsu was also on high alert. He stood up so fast his chair fell to the floor. The two slayers looked at each other in understanding.

"Lu, go up to my office and lock the door."

"Lax, what are you..."

"Don't question me, just do it. Now!" He got up swiftly and nudged Lucy towards the stairs. She ran up them and hovered by the balcony. The whole guild had quieted down to mere murmurs. They could feel the intensity coming off of both slayers in waves.

Within seconds the doors to the guild opened and there to everyone's immense shock was master Makarov...and Black Steel Gajeel.

A warning growl erupted from Laxus' throat and then the whole guild was in an uproar.

"Master! What is he doing here!"

"That's the guy that destroyed our guild!"

"How could he even let him step foot in here!"

The comments and shouts grew louder and louder. Gajeel kept his position at Makarov's side. His arms crossed over his chest and a firm scowl in place. He had fully expected this, and was actually surprised he wasn't beaten to a pulp yet.

"QUIET!" Makarov Shouted. The guild hall became completely silent.

"Brats, we have a new guild member. Gajeel."

The decibels immediately increased.

"Fuck no Gramps! Don't you remember what he did?" Natsu shouted.

"Of course I know what he did Natsu, I'm not an idiot!" Makarov shouted back.

The shouting continued as chairs and beer steins began to fly.

"BRATS!" He enlarged himself three times his size to make his point. "I am the master of this guild and it's my decision who joins and who doesn't. I've decided that Gajeel will become a part of our family. We all have a lot of healing to do, him included. I expect you all to treat him like you treat each other, with respect!"

With that, he shrunk down to size and quickly walked toward his office, Gajeel right behind him.

Laxus was seeing red. How?! How could his grandfather let that bastard join the guild? After what he did? What does that say about Fairy Tail? He had some choice words for the guild master in that moment. He stalked towards the stairs and saw Lucy as white as ghost holding onto the balcony railings.

"Lax, did he just say what I think he did?"

"Yea. He did. I'm gonna go talk with him. Don't worry, I won't let that asshole get close to you. Go hang with my team or Natsu for now. I'll be back down in a bit."

Lucy nodded and went back downstairs to sit with her team.

Laxus burst into this grandfather's office just as Gajeel was receiving his guild stamp.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" He rushed in and slammed his hands on the desk, splintering the wood.

Both men looked up at the enraged dragon slayer as if he was interrupting.

"What does it look like Laxus. I'm making Gajeel a member of this guild."

"Are you out of your mind? How do you think this is going to look to everyone in Fiore? The mage responsible for the destruction of our guild hall has now become a member. Are we letting every crook, dark mage and thief join now?"

"Enough! Do you not trust me Laxus? Do you not believe that we all deserve a chance to make amends? Do not question me on this!"

Laxus looked from his grandfather to Gajeel and back. "I can't fucking believe this. This has to be some kind of joke." He said disbelievingly.

"Sorry sparkplug, no joke. I'm your new guildmate." Gajeel smiled crookedly at him, his fangs visible.

Laxus flashed over to the other slayer and grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat. "Listen to me and listen well. I will not tolerate your shit. If it were up to me, we'd never see your face again. If you so much as step one toe out of line. I will destroy you. Got it?"

"Gi hi, whatever you say man. I'd love to go one on again." He smirked.

Laxus roared and pushed Gajeel back and stormed out of the office. Makarov shook his head in disappointment.

It wasn't long before Lucy saw her now boyfriend rushing down the stairs and out of the guild hall, not even bothering to look her way. She quickly got up and ran after him.

Moments later Gajeel sauntered down to the main hall and took a seat at a table in the far corner, surveying his new guild family and wondering just what he'd gotten himself into.


	20. Coming To Grips

Lucy gave her team one last look as she rushed out the door of the guild hall after Laxus, running as fast as she possibly could. As the sunlight reached her eyes, she squinted briefly and quickly looked around to see if she could spot the enraged dragon slayer, but to no avail. Lucy ran her hands through her hair in frustration and sighed. She turned heel and marched back into the guild hall to the rajinshuu's table, meeting the concerned eyes of her team mates on the way.

The three members of the thunder god tribe looked just as worried as she felt as she not so gracefully plopped down into Laxus' chair.

"Well, today has been weird." Bicklsow commented. "Weird! Weird!" His totems chorused.

"That is the understatement of the century Bix." Ever sarcastically replied.

"What do you think guys? Where could Laxus have run off to?" Lucy looked around the table to see three people shrugging their shoulders in reply.

"He has several places he goes to when he needs space, although, when he leaves in haste like this, the most logical conclusion is that he doesn't want to be bothered." Freed spoke up, peeking his head out from an old worn tome he was reading.

"That makes sense, but I've never seen him this angry before, have you?" Lucy asked no one in particular.

The three of them all looked at each other simultaneously with slight frowns adorning their faces. "Angry? More times than I can count, but not like this." Evergreen supplied.

"Lucy, you know about the lacrima and Laxus' father right?" Bickslow asked, changing the subject, his joking tone gone, replaced with an unfamiliar serious one.

"Well yea, he wrote to me when it happened."

"Well, that was the start of a lot of pain, anger, and self loathing for the boss. Not having you here made everything that much worse."

Ever chimed in. "The smallest mistake, or slip of the tongue would set him off in a rage. We quickly learned that the lacrima was causing him a great deal of physical pain, and the fact his own father was the one who inflicted this pain upon him just magnified it. With Ivan banned from the guild, Laxus only had his grandfather to look to for guidance, but he was usually very busy running the guild, the time he spent with him wasn't enough. Laxus would come hang out with us more often, suggesting we take job after job to no doubt make him forget his troubles. The problem is, your troubles have no trouble finding and keeping up with you."

Lucy felt a single tear slide down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "I had no idea. He just told me what happened but that he was doing okay, that he was learning how to control his new magic and that he was keeping busy." She sniffled.

"He probably didn't want to worry you Lucy. No doubt Laxus knew you would want to try and help, but that it would be difficult for you to do anything about it." Freed interjected.

Lucy held her her head in her hands and softly cried, prompting the only other female at the table to sidle over to her and hand her a tissue, and putting her arm around the buxom blonde.

"W-Why? I just don't understand! I thought we told each other everything no matter what! Just because we were separated by distance didn't mean I couldn't find other ways to comfort him, talk with him, you know? That's what best friends do, or at least that's what I thought they did. Did Laxus not think of me as his best friend?" Lucy choked out between sobs.

"Don't even say that Lu. Laxus cared, cares, for you in a way he never has for anyone else. Though, don't tell him I said that." Bickslow winked. "His reputation as leader of the thunder god tribe requires one to be, how do I say this? Emotionally distant? Although we all know better."

"You really think so?"

"Of course Lucy. He takes your friendship, now relationship very seriously. He values you like no other." Freed tried to be comforting, but his tone of voice remained impassive.

Lucy knew Freed did indeed care about what he was saying, so she smiled through her now puffy eyes. "Thanks Freed. I'd still like to look for him, talk to him about all of this you know? You said he has a few places he goes when he needs space? Seeing him that upset just doesn't sit right with me."

"Well, there's the bar Golden Orb. He's been known to hang out there occasionally, though it's not in a nice part of town. Then there's his home, which I'm sure you'll check first, and then there's Magnolia Park..."

Lucy's eyes turned hopeful and she hugged Evergreen then turned to Bix and Freed. "Thank you all so much. Laxus truly has such great friends and team mates. I'll let you know how it goes once I find him." She jumped out of her chair and hurried out of the guild hall with renewed vigor.

Evergreen sighed and sat back in her chair, glancing casually at her manicure. "I just hope she isn't disappointed by what she finds."

"I hope boss man can keep his anger in check." Bickslow added.

"With Lucy back in the picture now, things might be quite different than we're expecting." Freed commented without looking up from his book.

Laxus stormed through the streets of Magnolia, a fierce scowl on his face, electricity buzzing around him, a clear sign to anyone nearby to keep their distance. The intimidating looking dragon slayer was furious and looking for something to either pummel into the ground, or to make him forget his anger for the time being. He just couldn't make up his mind, it was too busy asking multiple questions simultaneously.

'Why would gramps let him in the guild after what he did to Lucy?!'

'Didn't he know what people would think about their guild now because of his decision?'

'How is Fairy Tail supposed to be the strongest guild in Fiore when we're letting in the disgraced members of a dark guild we destroyed?'

He was taken out of his ruminations by the smell of warm, fried, food. He looked up to find he was standing outside the one bar in Magnolia that had burgers and fries that could rival Mira's, The Golden Orb. Deciding a decent meal and a few beers couldn't hurt, he walked inside.

The barkeep looked up from cleaning some beer mugs when he heard the door slam and nearly come off it's hinges. He was greeted by a scowling dragon slayer making his way towards the bar.

"Looks like you've had one hell of a day."

Laxus just glared at the man, daring him to keep talking about it.

The bartender set the mug in his hands down on the bar top and raised his hands in a gesture meant to pacify the blonde in front of him, but wasn't fazed in the least by the hulking man's stare. "That bad huh? Well, I've said this probably a million times, but you know, talking about it is a good thing. You don't want all that anger to build up and explode out of ya. It ain't healthy."

Laxus huffed as he sat himself down on one of the barstools, placing his elbows on the counter and running his hands through his hair. "You know I'm not the talkin' type Len."

"Oh how I know. What'll it be?" Len sighed in defeat as he picked the mug back up and finished polishing it.

"The usual. With two beers and a bottle of whiskey."

The look Len gave him was silently questioning the man's choice of drinks but the one Laxus returned it with left no room for argument. Len walked back to the kitchen to place the order and grab his drinks.

Laxus looked around the dimly lit watering hole to see a few people scattered about at the tables and booths, but not many. That's one of the things he liked about this place. It wasn't busy. He could come here, eat a hot meal, have a few drinks and have time to himself to think about whatever was on his mind. Any other bar in town he'd be swamped by fans and curious onlookers, but not here. It seemed all the regulars wanted the same thing he did, some alone time, which was fine by him.

Several minutes later a steaming plate piled high with two triple pound burgers and a mountain of fries was placed in front him, followed shortly after by two frosty mugs of beer and a bottle of his favorite whiskey with a tumbler. He immediately dug in, savoring the first bite, feeling it glide down his throat, he sighed in contentment for a moment. It wasn't long before his plate was nothing but a few crumbs, his beers were gone and he was three quarters of the way done with his whiskey, just pouring himself another glass.

Len kept an eye on him the entire time, sure Laxus was known to handle his liquor well, This much though Len wasn't sure. Seeing the barely contained rage rippling on the surface of Laxus' usually stoic facade, he was definitely wary about what the alcohol would do. He quickly finished up with his customer and walked over to the other end of the bar.

"Feelin' better yet?" Len inquired.

Laxus lifted his head, slamming back the whiskey, letting the burn of it hit him full force. He swallowed, then forcefully set the glass back on the counter. "Fuckin' jiji."

Len stood there surprised. It seemed there was an amount of alcohol that loosened the man's lips. Laxus had always said otherwise.

"Jiji? Is that a friend of yours?"

Laxus snarled and looked towards the door. "He's my gramps." He sighed and ran his hand over his face. "And my fuckin' guildmaster."

"Ooh I see. Family troubles huh?"

"You could say that." He growled back, filling his tumbler once more with the amber liquid.

Len leaned his elbows down on the bar top observing the man's actions, seeing him pouring the whiskey, spilling some down the side of the glass. "Don't you think you've had enough?"

Laxus' eyes shot up and glared at the man as he downed the glass in one gulp, his eyes never leaving the bartenders. "Not even close." he bit out as he attempted to pour yet another glass, but this time Len grabbed the bottle the same time Laxus did.

"I beg to differ. I've never seen you like this, maybe you should take a break for a while, take a walk, get some fresh air." He said more sternly than his words would imply.

"Are you kicking me out?"

"Perhaps, if you don't take me up on my suggestion."

Laxus huffed and grabbed the bottle out of Len's hands. "Whatever, I don't need this shit from you. I'm outta here."He slammed some Jewel on the bar top then took a few quick strides and left the same way he came in, with a slammed door.

Len ran his hand over his face in exasperation, hoping that the dragon slayer wouldn't do something stupid.

Laxus was walking aimlessly through the streets of Magnolia, stumbling over his feet a bit when he'd hit an uneven patch of cobblestones here and there. His hand gripped around the neck of the whiskey bottle, his knuckles white with the force. He brought the bottle to his lips and took a swig, finishing it off. He tossed the empty vessel down the nearest alley where he could hear it shatter.

"Fucking Gramps, Fucking Len." He mumbled, more intoxicated then he ever remembered being, more angry than he ever remembered being. Fairy Tail was his life, a part of his identity, and Makarov had made some significant changes with the additions of Juvia and Gajeel. Laxus didn't know how to handle it. He always thought of the guild as being honorable, powerful, a force to be reckoned with. And now? Now he didn't know what it was.

The only thing that hadn't changed was Lucy, and thank Mavis for that. He needed to find her, talk to her. He was sure she was wondering where he went.

With his new goal in mind, he started walking towards her townhouse, hoping that she'd be there. After a few blocks, he came up to the park in the center of town, he was just about to walk past it when the same smell from the guild hall assaulted his nose. Iron. He froze, his fists clenched in rage. He ran across the street and down the small embankment to the grassy area of the park, and froze still once again by what met him.

Jet and Droy of all people, beating the crap out of their newest guildmate, while little Levy McGarden stood by the big Sakura tree yelling at them to stop. It struck Laxus as odd, that the man wasn't fighting back. He knew the shadowgear members were relatively weak and someone like the iron dragonslayer would have no trouble in disposing of them, but here he was, taking punch after punch.

"Jet, Droy! That's enough! Stop this now!" Levy yelled at her team mates, in shock at this unusual display from her friends.

"Not until he's unconscious. Not until he feels what we felt that day, what you felt Levy!" Jet yelled as he kicked Gajeel in the stomach, causing the larger man to curl into himself as he was thrown a few feet back by the force. He landed on the ground in a crouched position, breathing heavily.

Laxus watched the whole scene unfold and started cackling from his position several yards away. The sound caused the four mages to turn their heads in his direction. He kept on laughing, holding his gut he was laughing so hard. He finally calmed and wiped a stray tear from his eye and surveyed the group before him.

"This is rich. Black Steel Gajeel, being beaten to a pulp by tweedle dee and tweedle dum." He started chuckling once more.

Both Jet and Droy turned to face the lightning slayer, their anger now directed at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" Jet spat out.

"It means, I'm surprised your able to land a hit on this guy, and that he's letting you!" Laxus slurred.

Droy looked between Laxus and the injured iron dragonslayer a few times. Not sure who he should be more angry at in that moment. Figuring Gajeel had gotten his fair share for the moment, he focused his ire on the other dragonslayer who insulted his strength as a mage.

"Well we obviously did. Why do you even care? This is between Gajeel and us." He bit out.

Laxus' face became serious then. "Because I have my own bone to pick with the fucker."

"Stay out of this Laxus, Gajeel deserves to get pulverised by our hands for what he did to us. You'll have to wait your turn." Jet yelled, his magic building around him.

Laxus' lip turned up in a smirk. "I see. You want to fight me for him, huh speedy? Sounds like fun." Laxus' own magic began bubbling up around him, little arcs of electricity sparking around his hulking frame. "It's about time you see the strength of a true Fairy Tail mage."

On the other side of the park, Lucy was in the midst of her search for the blonde haired slayer when she heard shouting. She started running and as she got closer she saw Laxus, shadowgear and Gajeel in the midst of some kind of argument. Laxus' magic causing the sky to darken, storm clouds forming above him. Lucy reached the sakura tree where she saw Levy huddled near a very injured Gajeel.

Their eyes met as she sat down near the duo. "Levy, what the hell's going on here?"

"I found Jet, Droy and Gajeel fighting here and tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen! Then Laxus showed up. Lu, I think he's been drinking."

Lucy looked up to her boyfriend on the hill as he collected the magic he needed for an attack. "If you can handle this, then you can stay in the guild. If not, then you need to take your weak asses to a lesser guild!" He shouted. Lucy sat there in shock, this wasn't the Laxus she knew.

Then he unleashed the lighting on the entire park. His control over his magic seriously hindered by the amount of alcohol in his system considering he drank an entire bottle of the strongest whiskey the bar had to offer in less than 20 minutes.

Lucy and Levy shielded themselves as best they could, waiting for the moment they'd be fried to a crisp. But that moment never came. Lucy opened one eye, then another to see a towering figure above them both, smoldering from the intensity of the lighting. His entire body had turned to iron, was singed everywhere. His skin quickly returned to normal and he collapsed in front of them.

"Gajeel!?" Levy shouted in surprise and concern. Why would he defend her? Why put himself in harms way for her? For Lucy?

Laxus stood tall on the hill, his shoulders rising and falling with his heavy breathing. A smirk on his face at seeing Jet, Droy and Gajeel on the ground. Then he looked by the tree, and that's when he saw her. Lucy, his Lucy. She was staring at him in disbelief and anger.

Laxus' facial expression changed in an instant, his eyes wide. "Oh gods. Lucy." He breathed out as he rushed down the hill to her.

She began to stand up, brushing the grass and dirt from her clothes, Levy doing the same.

"Lu, what are you doing here? Are you ok?" His cocky attitude gone, replaced with concern and shame.

"I think a better question is what the hell got into you Laxus Dreyar!" Levy yelled up at him. If anyone had walked by in that moment they might have thought it comical that a small blue haired woman was chewing out the large dragon slayer.

He started, and looked down between the two women, realizing just what had happened. "I-I needed him to know...I." He stuttered out. He couldn't find the words to explain his actions. The whiskey making his thoughts cloudy. He knew though, that he had messed up. Big time.

Lucy stood there speechless, in shock. a few tears running down her face. How could he act like this? So what if he had been drinking, that was no excuse! He harmed his guildmates, and for what? He could have seriously injured or even killed every one of them.

Levy though, she was seething. Somewhere deep inside she was finding the courage to finally stand up for her friends, and she was going to use it.

"I can't believe you would do something like that! I hope you didn't seriously injure Jet, Droy or Gajeel for your own sake. Your grandfather's going to be absolutely furious! And if it wasn't for Gajeel here, Lucy and I could have been really hurt or even killed! Did that even occur to you during your drunken power trip?!" She yelled, her eyes ablaze with a fury that neither Lucy or Laxus had ever seen before.

Gajeel had come to in the middle of her tirade and if anyone was looking at the dragon slayer, they would've seen a small smirk forming while his gaze was on the script mage.

Laxus didn't say a word, just looked away, towards Jet and Droy's prone figures on the grass, then his gaze swept towards Lucy, who's eyes were brimming with tears.

"Why? Why would you act like this? Is it because of Gajeel joining the guild? Is that really worth all this?" She asked quietly.

Laxus hesitantly stepped toward her, but the moment he did she took a small step back. "Answer me." She said.

"I-fuck." He ran his hands roughly through his hair. "Lu, I can explain." He sighed in frustration and embarrassment. He looked around once more and decided what to do. "Look, let me get these guys to the infirmary. I'll bring you to my place and we can talk, ok?"

Lucy rose an eyebrow at him in uncertainty, she looked over to Levy who was helping Gajeel get to his feet. She frowned at Laxus, but looked back to Lucy and nodded. She knew Lucy's feelings for the man and knew that whatever kind of relationship they had at the moment, needed to at least have a chance at being salvaged.

"O-Ok, I guess." Lucy conceded.

That was all Laxus needed to hear. He nodded then closed the gap between them, teleporting her to his townhouse. Lucy feeling the familiar nausea and disorientation that came along with his lightning teleport.

A moment later they were standing in his living room and the second Lucy realized she was on stable ground again, she backed away and hugged herself, not sure what to feel, but knowing she needed some space from the man.

"Lu, I will explain, just hold ok? Please?" He pleaded with her. Seeing the sorrow in his eyes, she knew he was speaking the truth, and she had to at least hear him out. She nodded and took a seat on his couch.

"I'll be back." He said before disappearing. Lucy held her head in her hands and cried for seemed like the millionth time that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh geez, so so sorry for this drama filled chapter! (I say while peeking my head from around a corner lol). Well not really, it had to be written, but it was super hard to write, especially since they just got out of the whole phantom ordeal and started to really come into their own.
> 
> Don't worry though, this is a Lalu fic after all, I won't keep this turmoil going for very long, it hurts me to even write it.
> 
> Let me know what you think! Comments, and suggestions are always welcome.
> 
> ~Pamgie


	21. Mending What's Broken

Chapter 21: Mending What's Broken

Laxus' heart dropped at seeing the disappointment in Lucy's eyes before he flashed back to the park. He really fucked this up, big time, and as he sobered, it became all the more real to him. Just when he had figured out his feelings and was finally with the girl of his dreams, he had to go on a fucking power trip. Not that the reason for that power trip had gone away yet, oh no. He was still royally pissed off, but he realized he went about dealing with it in the shittiest way possible.

He was brought out of his wallowing by the sight of two of his guild mates groaning on the grass several yards away. He looked back over to the sakura tree to see Levy had assisted Gajeel to his feet, had his arm over her shoulder for support, and were slowly making their way towards Jet and Droy.

As they walked by, Levy glared at the taller man and shook her head. Laxus was surprised by how much Levy's disappointment struck a chord with him as well.

"I'll grab Jet and Droy...bring them over to Porlyusica's." He said in a monotone.

Levy stopped and turned her head back to look at him.

"It's the least you can do." She bit out before continuing on with Gajeel. The slayer's unemotional gaze also on Laxus before switching to the small blue haired woman he was using as support. Laxus could hear him whisper to the girl.

"I don't need your help. I've gotten through worse scrapes than this." He rasped.

Levy's gaze flicked over to him, a slightly offended look graced her delicate features. "Like hell you don't. Besides, Fairy Tail takes care of their own, and you're a part of fairy tail now." She said the last with emphasis and with more volume despite her slightly labored breathing. Laxus knew it was directed towards him, but figured Levy just didn't know his hearing was so fine tuned she could have barely whispered it and he would have heard every word. He inwardly cringed at her statement. Wondering how the woman that was beaten to a pulp by this guy was now helping him. He decided he didn't want to waste the time thinking about it now.

He turned his attention to the speed and plant mages on the ground and quickly strode over to them. As he hoisted them each over a shoulder, he could hear Jet groaning. "W-What are you doing?"

"Put us d-down, haven't you d-done enough?" Droy coughed out.

"Tch. Hang on tight. I'm taking you to the old lady to get healed." Before either could protest any more, the three of them disappeared with a clap of thunder.

In the quietness of Laxus' empty house, Lucy broke down into tears for what seemed like the millionth time in a matter of hours. The man she thought she knew, thought she had always known, had broken her heart.

Fairy Tail is her family, and to see Laxus, who she considered not only family, but so much more, act like he did towards their own, well it made her stomach turn and twist. She was torn between running to the bathroom to throw up or curl in a ball at the foot of his couch.

What was she going to do? Her feelings for the man were getting stronger by the day, she could honestly say that she had never felt this way for anyone else in her entire life. That's why what he did hurt so much. Because she cared about him so much. To see and hear what he did was like being stabbed in the heart.

"Why...Why?" Lucy kept repeating to herself through her sobs. She knew he was upset, knew he didn't like the recent turn of events for the guild, but to do what he did...she just couldn't comprehend it.

Sensing his master's overwhelming distress, her lion spirit decided enough was enough and pushed through his gate on his own power, quickly sitting on the sofa next to her and put an arm around her quaking shoulders.

"Princess..." He said quietly, holding her to him and stroking her head.

Lucy looked up through her wet lashes and red rimmed eyes. "Loke." She choked out.

"Shh, just let it out princess. I know how much he means to you, but what he did...I...If I were you..." But he didn't have a chance to finish his sentence before a clap of thunder was heard and Laxus appeared in the room. He glared at the spirit cradling Lucy in his arms.

"What are you doing here?" He asked curtly.

"What does it look like?" He snapped back. "I'm doing what YOU should be! You have a lot of explaining to do, not only to Lucy but to the guild! If it was up to me, I wouldn't let you within a hundred miles of my princess!"

Laxus let out a feral growl as the two men eyed each other down. Neither one willing to back down.

Lucy looked between the two men. "Loke, I-I need some time with Laxus. Alone please." She spoke quietly, sniffling.

Loke looked over to his master with sadness in his eyes, then back to Laxus, hesitating. "Yes, princess." He said begrudgingly, disappearing in a flash.

Laxus breathed a sigh of relief at the big cat's exit, then looked over to the crestfallen woman on his sofa. He slowly walked over to her and knelt down in front of her.

"Jet and Droy are being healed as we speak, and that iron fre..". Lucy glared at him, daring him to finish the word. "...Gajeel, is with Levy, heading back to the guild." he ground out.

Lucy's face was morphing between anger and sorrow and Laxus didn't know which to address first. He hung his head low and gently reached for her hand. "Lucy, I...I screwed up."

She removed her hand from his grasp and tilted his head up with her chin. Her eyes held a ferocity he didn't know they could contain. "You think?" She replied with snark.

Her demeanor changed in an instant however, her warring emotions all struggling to come to the surface. She let go of his chin and sank further into the couch, bringing her legs up and wrapping her arms around them for comfort. "Why...why would you do that? To your guildmates, your family?" She paused for a moment. "...To me." She whispered.

Seeing the woman he was falling for so distraught nearly tore his heart in two. He knew in that moment he'd be doing everything he could to make this up to her for the rest of his life. He'd do anything to never see this look on her face ever again. That is, if she would even want to be a part of his life after this. He shuddered at the thought, not wanting to give it any more of his attention, the object of said thought right in front him, now. He didn't want to waste a moment of his time with her, not knowing how much of it he had left.

Instead, he looked her straight in the eyes, those beautiful honey brown eyes filled with sadness, disappointment, anger, confusion. He drank it all in, took a deep breath and prepared to answer for his actions.

"Growing up, after you were forced to leave...after my dad forced the lacrima in me...life just got...miserable. I was in constant pain, dealing with this new magic, with my dad being banished, my grandfather too busy running the guild to really pay attention to what was happening to me. Sure, I know he cared, looking back I know he tried his best, but he was out of his depth with me. All I kept thinking was that I was too weak. Too weak to fight back when my dad did what he did. To weak to handle this new magic. I just felt too fucking weak!" Laxus' voice rose in volume, it cracked on his last statement, embarrassed to be saying his deepest thoughts out loud.

Lucy's anger faded somewhat, listening to him. "Lax..." She breathed out. "Why didn't you tell me this? We were best friends right? Why did you feel you had to keep this inside?"

"Because I didn't want you to I was weak, I wanted you to see me like you always did. Dad always said power and strength were what mattered in life. I guess a part of me still wanted to please him. I didn't want you to think I was a weak punk ass kid who couldn't handle anything. And I knew the moment you found out, you'd come running to help me and I didn't want you to get in trouble with your old man."

As he spoke Lucy was starting to put some pieces of the puzzle together, but she still had so many questions. "Lax, you're right about one thing. I would have come running to your side, to help you. But I wouldn't give a damn what my father would think about that. You should know me well enough to know that my Fairy Tail family is more real to me than my actual father. I'll do anything to help one of my dear friends here. That especially includes you." Her eyes softened a bit and Laxus felt a momentary feeling of relief wash over him at that.

She continued. "So you're saying that these feelings of inadequacy spurred you on to do what you did today? I have a hard time believing that's the only reason." She said firmly. Her gaze returning to its serious state.

He knew this would be hard, so frustratingly hard, to open up, to fully let someone in, but if he was to hold onto this bright light in his life, he had to, and he decided she'd be the only one he would ever do this for.

Laxus rose and took the seat next to the blonde woman, resting his elbows on the tops of his legs. "You're right, it's not. You're too smart for your own good sometimes, you know that?" He quipped, hoping to bring some levity into their conversation, only to see she was still waiting for his answer. He shook his head and looked toward the living room window.

"Seeing..." He paused, struggling to even say the man's name. "Gajeel walk into the guild next to my gramps, I felt this fire rise up in me that I'd never felt before. A rage that I could barely control. Lu...what he did to you, what he did to Fairy Tail...and to have my own flesh and blood, our guild master let that man into our family. I just couldn't take it. I still don't think I can."

He grabbed her hand and began rubbing his thumb in circles on the top of it. Lucy felt the tightness of his hold, knew that he was having difficulty keeping calm just talking about all of this.

"When I heard that you were taken, my blood boiled. My inner dragon roared to life out of nowhere. I didn't care about anything else except getting to you, saving you. When I came in that room and saw you, bloodied, broken limbs. I-I just couldn't take it. Lu, I can't lose you. I don't know what I'd do if I did." He admitted, shifting himself to face her on the couch, cupping her face in his calloused hands, his thumb caressing her cheek. Lucy leaned into the touch, despite her feelings in the moment, she relished in feeling his skin on hers, she brought her own hand up to join one of his.

"Laxus-"

Laxus cut her off before she could finish. "Knowing that the monster that did that to you, that he's in our guild now, I-I can't even explain how angry it makes me. How can Gramps let that sorry excuse for a man, who beat you so badly, just waltz right in and take his place among our family! For him to commit an act like that against one of our own and he gets a guild stamp for it? My shitty old man almost killed me and what did Gramps do? He banished him from Fairy Tail for life!"

Lucy's eyes widened in understanding then, and she reached out to run her fingers though his thick blonde hair. "Laxus, I get it, I see it now, and I'm hurting with you. But what you did was inexcusable. I'm not thrilled that Gajeel is a part of Fairy Tail either. But we all deserve a chance to make amends, despite our past actions. That includes you...and Gajeel. The master, in his wisdom, sees something in Gajeel, I know he does, otherwise he wouldn't have offered him this chance. Shouldn't we do the same?"

Laxus was amazed. This woman before him, her bravery, her maturity, her light. It all amazed him. Regardless of what the iron dragon slayer had done to her, she was willing to move past that. He hoped she could move past this with him as well.

Laxus held her hand that cupped his face, keeping it in place. "Lu, I-I'm so so sorry." He choked out, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. He could count on one hand the times that he'd cried, and he was hoping this wouldn't be one of them, but every word he spoke brought them closer to the surface. "I, I could have hurt you, seriously hurt you. I-I'm so sorry." He held her face in his hands and kissed her chastely on the lips, then every inch of her face, wanting to reassure himself that she was fine. It made him cringe to think that she was ok because of Gajeel. But he could deal with that later.

Lucy closed her eyes, let his affection wash over her. She could feel his walls crumbling down, his defenses all but gone now. She knew how hard this was for him, to be vulnerable, she could feel it.

He pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "I-I can't lose you. I just can't." He rasped out. "You're everything to me."

Lucy smiled at the sentiment, because she felt the exact same way, though she was heartbroken by his actions, she didn't want to lose what they had. She knew why he did what he did. He was angry at his grandfather, angry at Gajeel for what he'd done to her. His care for her and his protection, they warmed her heart. She couldn't condone how he acted, not in the least, but she understood the emotions behind it all. She closed the gap between them and brought her lips to his in a sweet kiss. Laxus responded, moving his lips along with hers, putting all the passion, care, worries, everything he had for her into the kiss. And Lucy felt it, she could feel it all and she moved closer, wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening the lip lock.

Laxus hummed in approval. He definitely was not expecting this after what he did, but he most certainly wasn't going to turn her affections away. his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her even closer if that was possible, molding her body to his, he loved the feel of being so close to her, the smell of her, the feel of her skin, the softness of her hair, he knew, even if he had an entire lifetime with her, it wouldn't be enough.

That was when he realized. He was in love. His inner dragon was roaring to get out, to claim this woman, he now knew what that meant. The reality of it all. She was it. The one woman, the only woman he would ever want or need, was in his arms right now, and damn it all, he never planned on letting her go.

The temperature in the room felt like it went up a hundred degrees as their kissing only became more intense, their hands having to touch each other, needing to feel the others skin as much as possible.

Lucy broke their kiss to start unbuttoning his shirt, struggling in her haste to get the damned piece of fabric off the man as fast as possible. Laxus chuckled and reached for her hand, she stopped her actions and looked up at him in question. Did he not want to continue?

On the contrary, before she could get a word out, Laxus ripped his shirt off his body, popping each button, causing them to scatter around his living room. Lucy's eyes widened at the action, and then took in the specimen before her. Rock hard muscles covered every inch of his torso. His tattoo over his left pectoral along with his fairy tail guild mark made Lucy's mouth water. She wanted to lick every inch of that tattoo. She began caressing his abs, his chest, every bit she could get to, her mind hazed over with lust. Their concerns about the day pushed to the back of her mind.

"Your shirt.." She breathed.

"I've got plenty." Laxus replied, a smirk on his face watching the beautiful celestial mage fondling his body. Her soft hands touching him only fueled his desire for the woman. He started moving toward her and placed an arm around her waist, guiding her to lay down on the couch, his knee placed between her legs. They resumed their feverish attack on each others lips, Laxus slowly moving his hand up her side and brushed the underside of her breast. Lucy's breath hitched at the motion and Laxus knew he had found a sensitive spot. He then moved his hand under her shirt and up to her left breast, palming as much as he could in his hand, massaging it realizing she didn't have a bra on. Lucy moaned at his touch which fanned the flame of lust for the lighting dragon slayer.

He noticed her hardening nipples through the fabric of her shirt, he moved his head down to the right breast and licked her rosy bud through her shirt.

"Mmmm Lax..."

Laxus grunted. "You like that baby?"

"Mmmhmmm." Lucy moaned.

Hearing her hums of satisfaction, Laxus decided he wasn't going to be the only one with his shirt off. He quickly rid Lucy of her tank top and dove right in for her breasts, rolling one nipple between his fingers, while licking and sucking the other.

Lucy closed her eyes, and focused on the sound of Laxus lapping at her hardened peak. It was the biggest turn on she'd ever felt. Granted this was the first time she had engaged in any kind of sexual activity besides touching herself, so she really didn't know her turn ons yet, but she decided Laxus playing with her breasts was one of them.

Soon she could feel Laxus moving down her body, leaving a trail of wet kisses and nips in his wake. She opened her eyes to see him positioned between her legs with a look of absolute hunger in his eyes. He paused though, and Lucy knew this was him asking her if it was okay, okay to continue past their wonderful foreplay. She bit her lip, making Laxus growl at her and her eyes shot up to his, seeing love in the depths of his eyes, among other things. She knew then, that he cared for her beyond just the physical, and she nodded her head.

Laxus knew she was a virgin and that she was probably a little nervous about all of this. He wanted to make sure that this was what she wanted, that she wanted him. When she gave the go ahead he removed her skirt and panties, leaving her bare to him.

Lucy suddenly felt self conscious under his heated gaze and began to cover herself with her arms, but Laxus stopped her, held both arms above her head.

"No, don't. There's no need to hide from me Lucy. You're beautiful. Sweet Mavis, so beautiful." Laxus husked out. Seeing her splayed out under him in all her naked glory, she looked like an angel. It didn't help the raging hard on that was straining to it's limit in his pants.

Lucy blushed at the compliment, although she was sure it would be hard to tell because her cheeks already felt hot from their activities just moments ago. Laxus smirked at her reaction and bent down, his face now between her legs, and Lucy gasped as he began licking up the inside of her thighs inching ever closer to her center.

He chuckled against her skin and moved his arms under her legs clasping his hands together on her flat, toned stomach and Lucy was starting to realize what he was about to do. She was excited and embarrassed at the same time. But she didn't have time to voice these feelings because Laxus dove right in, licking up the center of her folds causing Lucy to cry out in surprise and pleasure.

He continued his assault, loving the feel of her folds on his tongue as he plunged it in and out of her in an ever quickening pace. He could feel her getting wetter, could taste it on his tongue. And it was like honey to him. He wanted more, he wanted to see her come undone under him. He sucked her glistening bud into his mouth and caressed it with his tongue, getting faster and faster with his strokes. Lucy began bucking her hips to try and relieve some of the pressure building up within her. She thread her hands through his hair and grabbed his locks, keeping him in place as he continued his barrage on her womanhood.

"Mmmm Laxus." She moaned.

He moaned right back and Lucy could feel the vibration of it and it only served to tighten the coil she felt in her stomach. Watching Laxus eat her out was officially her favorite thing now.

He could feel that she was close, so he plunged his tongue as deep inside her as it would go and brought his finger up to her clit, channeling the smallest amount of his magic into it and pressed it against her pearl.

The moment she felt that surge of electricity hit her, she was done for. She cried out, arching her back and bucking up into Laxus' face to ride out the most intense orgasm she'd ever had. Laxus continued pleasuring her through her orgasm, watching as she wound down from it, loving her post orgasmic glow. He lifted his head to look at her, and rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth to remove the evidence of her pleasure, then licked it off the back of his hand.

That simple action almost had Lucy coming again.

"You are so fucking sexy when you cum, you know that?"

Lucy smiled shyly with embarrassment.

"And damn tasty too." he said with a smirk.

Lucy smacked his thigh. "Laxus!" She admonished.

She brought her arm up to cover her face. "That was, amazing. I'm exhausted!"

"Well I hope not too exhausted, because I'm not quite done with you yet." Laxus stood then, still in his black slacks, showing that he indeed had unfinished business to take care of.

Lucy's eyes hazed over with lust again at seeing his member straining against his pants, no doubt aching to be freed. She let out a squeak of surprise as Laxus scooped her up and began carrying her upstairs.

"Where are we going?"

"Where do you think? I'm not going to let your first time be on a couch." He spoke into her ear.

Lucy hummed in appreciation and wrapped her arms around his neck, reaching up and sucking on the skin under his ear. Laxus moaned at the contact and was glad he was already at the door to his room, otherwise he'd be taking her in the hallway, which was not how he wanted her first time to go.

He kicked open his door and quickly strode over to his bed, depositing the blonde and ridding himself of his pants and boxer briefs faster than Lucy thought possible, then he was over her again, kissing her deeply, letting his tongue slide in and dance with her own. She soon felt his manhood pressing against her stomach and realized just how big the man really was. How was that going to fit in her?!

"Lucy." Laxus pulled away, feeling her tense up. "I've wanted to do this for so long, and now that I have you in my bed, I won't let you leave it until your so satisfied you can't walk." He whispered in her ear.

Lucy moaned at the implication and melted in his arms. Laxus lined himself up and slowly pushed in until he was completely sheathed inside of her. Lucy groaned in discomfort for a moment, but when Laxus felt she had adjusted he started to move in and out of her, watching her face relax into one of pleasure. He quickened his pace a bit, feeling her tight walls like a vice around him.

"So, so good." He moaned, and Lucy moaned back in response. He watched as her large breasts bounced with each thrust, mesmerized by them. He reached out and started massaging one, which earned him more mewls from the goddess beneath him.

His hips snapped into her with more force now, as he could tell they were both getting close to their ends hearing skin slapping against skin. He changed his angle slightly, causing Lucy to groan, knowing he found a sweet spot. He kept at it and it wasn't long before he heard those sweet wonderful words.

"Laxus-I'm...I'm going to."

"I know baby, cum for me." He rasped in reply.

At his command she cried out as her walls spasmed around his cock, he roared out through two last thrusts and pulled out, shooting his seed all over her stomach and breasts.

Laxus flopped down next to her, both were out of breath, experiencing mind shattering orgasms. Lucy opened her eyes and looked down to see the mess he had made all over her body, then turned to look at her now lover, his chest rising and falling, a sated look gracing his rugged features. She had no idea what to expect for her first time, and was glad that he seemed to enjoy it just as much as she did.

After catching his breath, Laxus got up and walked to his en suite, giving Lucy a perfect view of his toned ass. He quickly returned and began cleaning the aftermath off of her.

She smiled at him, liking how thoughtful he was being in this moment. He smirked back. "Lu, that was..."

"I know..." she smirked back.

He finished cleaning her off and through the towel into his hamper, climbing over her to lay beside her, placing his arm over her torso.

"I want you to know that I don't usually give myself to a guy after only one date. Well, actually I've never been on a date until you, or had sex, so..."

He placed a finger over her lips. "Shh, Lu, you don't have to try and impress me. I know what kind of person you are. It's part of what I find so sexy about you."

Lucy blushed again, not used to being praised so much.

"That and your kindness, sense of humor, you're intellect, that killer body..." He trailed off.

"You know, you're not so bad yourself mister." she fired back. Thinking about all his good qualities, suddenly the events from only hours ago flowed back into her mind.

Laxus noticed the change from flirty to contemplative. "Hey, what's wrong?"

As she was about to respond, a ringing filled the silence, and Laxus realized his lacrima com was going off. He pulled it out of the drawer in his nightstand and pushed his magic into it, seeing the stern looking face of his grandfather.

"Laxus. We need to talk." He growled out in anger.

Laxus rubbed his hand over his face in exasperation. "Shit. Yea, we do. I'll be right there."

Makarov nodded briskly and cut off his transmission, not saying goodbye.

Well there goes the great mood. The two lovers looked at eachother.

"Lax, don't worry, I'll be right there with you. We'll get through this together."

His eyes widened at that comment. "You don't have to. You weren't the one who injured guildmates."

"You're right, but I'm falling for someone who did. And I won't abandon you when you need me the most."

He swept Lucy up in his arms and kissed her passionately. "Lu, you're the most incredible woman I've ever known. C'mon, lets get dressed, the sooner we get there the sooner I can get this over with."

Lucy nodded, vowing to herself to help in whatever way she could, because she knew that despite his actions, there was a good man underneath it all in Laxus Dreyar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowee!
> 
> They finally got together! I'm sure some of you were waiting for this moment. To be honest I wasn't sure if I wanted to write it in this part of the story, but as I began to type, things just started to flow.
> 
> Just so you all know, because of the events of this chapter and the next, I won't be including the fantasia arc in this story. I'm sorry if some of you were looking forward to that, but I feel it would be going backwards now.


	22. Consequences

Chapter 22

Consequences

Laxus splashed some water on his face, and looked into the mirror of his en suite bathroom. What greeted him was a face etched with worry. His mind blowing romp between the sheets with Lucy certainly lifted his mood for a moment, but the phone call from Gramps doused that fire immediately.

He squared his shoulders, preparing himself for what was to come. For all he knew, gramps could outright banish him just like he did to his dad. The thought almost made him sick to his stomach. He hoped to Mavis that wasn't the case. He'd do anything to not be expelled.

"Come on Dreyar, toughen up." He said to bolster his strength.

A soft knock shook him out of his thoughts.

"Laxus...are you all right in there? Ready to go?"

The sweet melodic voice of his girlfriend finally took him out of his frenzied mind. He strode over to the door and opened it to see Lucy standing with her hands clasped behind her back, a look of concern on her beautiful face.

"I'm fine. Let's get goin'." He said a little harsher than he intended. Lucy's face morphed into sadness at the tone of voice.

He quickly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Really, I'm ok. Just nervous I guess. The sooner we get this over with, the better." He reassured.

She nodded, a look of determination filled her features. She really was going to stand by his side for this. He couldn't believe it. Well, actually knowing Lucy he could. But he didn't understand it.

Soon they were walking side by side on their way to the guild. Laxus could have teleported them over there, but decided against it, wanting more time with Lucy before the shit storm that the meeting with his gramps would most likely be.

They walked in companionable silence most of the way there. Lucy's mere presence soothing Laxus' worried soul. He gently grasped her hand, and twined their fingers together as they walked. Lucy looked up at the gesture and smiled warmly at him.

"It'll be alright Laxus. No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."

He returned her dazzling smile with a small smirk of his own, his eyes held all of his emotions. "I hope you're right, and...I'm glad, same goes for you, ya know. Whatever gramps' decision is, I'll have to accept it. That may mean I have to leave Fairy Tail." He cringed a little at having to say the words out loud. "If that happens...I...want you to know, that I.."

Lucy maintained her smile. "I know." She saw how hard it was for him to say the words. She knew how he felt about her, about this guild deep down. He didn't have to finish his sentence for her to understand what he was trying to say. That if he was forced to leave Fairy Tail, that he wouldn't leave her.

He nodded, reassured that no matter what, he would get through this. They would get through this.

They stood just outside the guild hall doors, Lucy squeezing his hand in affection and support. They looked to one another and nodded. This was it. Laxus grabbed the large worn wooden handle and pulled, both of them taking a few steps over the threshold.

The guild was as rowdy as ever, Natsu and Gray in the middle of a brawl that had engulfed a majority of the guild members. Noticeably absent were Levy, Gajeel and team shadowgear. Thankfully since it looked like they hadn't stopped in since the incident, there wouldn't be a huge outcry to deal with right now.

A few eyes looked their way as they walked over to the bar, but otherwise everyone was preoccupied doing whatever it was they did on a normal day at the guild.

As Mira spotted them she made her way over, her usual bright and cheery smile a little less so as she came to a stop in front of the pair.

"Hi Lucy, and Laxus" Giving an unpleasant emphasis on the lightning slayers name, and an almost imperceptible narrowing of her eyes as they came upon him. "What can I get for you two today?"

Laxus eyed her suspiciously for a moment, had she found out what had happened just a few hours ago? Had gramps told her? He shook the thoughts from his head. "Whiskey, on the rocks. Thanks."

"Nothing for me Mira, thank you." Lucy replied cheerily.

"Sure thing, comin' right up!" She replied as she went about making Laxus' drink. A minute later and the tumbler was placed in front of him. "The master would like to speak with you. Don't keep him waiting too long." Those were the only words she spoke as she left to attend to other members.

Laxus' eye's widened slightly. So he did tell her. He shouldn't be surprised, the old man told Mira everything, they were the two biggest gossips in the guild. Lucy saw the expression on his face. "Don't worry about it, just focus on why you're here." He nodded then downed the drink in one gulp and set the glass down on the bar top a little harder than he intended. Lucy winced as it hit, expecting it to shatter into pieces, but relaxed as she didn't hear the sound of breaking glass. Their eyes met and she gave him a warning look that honestly made Laxus a bit nervous before he shrugged and motioned for her to follow him up the stairs to the master's office.

His steps halted once again in front of a door. This time his gramps' office. He wished he could just hole himself up in his house with Lucy until all this died down, but there was nothing for it. He needed to own up to his actions. Show everyone that yea, he was a dick, but there's so much more to him.

Lucy nudged him with her shoulder. "Come on, let's go in. He's waiting."

He nodded and pushed open the door. At the quiet creaking of the wood, Master Makarov looked up from his desk at the pair and his features took on a frown as he gestured for them to come in.

Laxus stood behind one of the two chairs in front of the smaller man's desk. Lucy closed the door behind her and stood right by the door.

"Laxus." Makarov hissed out. "Took your damn time m'boy. And Lucy dear." His gaze drifted over to the blonde, a small but not fully genuine smile gracing his aged face. "What are you doing here? Your presence isn't needed for this." He asked.

Lucy opened her mouth to reply but Laxus did it for her. "She's here for me gramps." He snapped out. "And she's not going anywhere. Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of her." His tone of voice left no room for argument.

Makarov sighed and put down the papers he was holding. "Very well." He rose out of his chair and climbed on top of his desk to be slightly more level with his much taller grandson. He knew of their new found relationship and was concerned for it's future with what he was about to say. But as guild master, his responsibilities trumped his grandson's and Lucy's feelings.

Laxus gulped, gripping onto the back of the plush chair, turning his knuckles white. This was it. The moment that could decide his entire future.

The two Dreyar men stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity before Makarov spoke. "Why?"

The single word hung in the air and the silence was deafening. Lucy could feel the thick tension enveloping the room, both men's magical energies were barely contained. She hoped that they would be able to discuss this without causing damage to the guild.

"I think you know why." Laxus spoke, his voice close to breaking.

"Enlighten me."

"Gajeel." The name still left a sour taste in his mouth when spoken. Laxus' frown deepened.

"What about him?" Makarov countered.

Lucy watched the volley of words back and forth, waiting for what she thought was the inevitable conclusion of violence and destruction of property. Even though they had only spoken a few words to each other, those words spoke volumes.

"You let him join the guild. I thought I made my feelings clear to you on the subject." He replied, trying to keep a straight face and his anger at bay.

Makarov rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I know you don't agree with my decision. But that does not give you the right to attack him. You already beat him within an inch of his life for what he did to Lucy. That wasn't enough for you though was it? You had to take it out on two other guild mates? Levy informed me that if Gajeel hadn't made it to her and Lucy in time you would have hurt them as well. " His voice gaining more bite with each word.

Laxus visibly cringed at hearing his grandfather mention shadowgear and Lucy. He had never heard his gramps this angry before and it made him feel as if he was being stabbed, the knife twisting in his gut with every mention of his actions.

He couldn't get himself to look back at Lucy then, he just knew she must've had a frown marring that beautiful face at the mention of almost being hurt by his hand.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Makarov prodded. Laxus realized his internal struggles had taken longer than he thought, since his gramps was glaring in his direction clearly waiting for him to speak.

"Yes-I was angry, and drunk. I shouldn't have attacked anyone, let alone Jet, and Droy. The fact I came so close to hurting Lu...I would have never forgiven myself. In a way, the metal freak saved me from doing something I would have regretted for the rest of my life."

the last part of his sentence was more of a musing to himself, though it ended up being out loud, and it honestly surprised Laxus.

"But my reasons for doing what I did...well, I had them. I just went about getting them off my chest in the wrong fucking way." He moved from his position behind the high backed chair and walked between the pair of them, coming up to the desk and placing both hands down on the shiny surface. He was barely a foot away from his master and grandfather.

"You-You banished my dad for what he did to me. His son, your grandson, a member of this guild. Yet you welcome a man with open arms that severely injured not only Lucy but several of your children, and destroyed the guild hall. I just can't wrap my head around that."

The two men were silent for several moments, just staring at each other. Lucy was almost afraid to breath. She didn't know if her presence here was actually having any effect, but she hoped that Laxus was at least getting some comfort from her being there. He was sounding pretty confident in what he was saying and she hoped that maybe her presence was having that effect on him.

Makarov broke the stare down first, looking away as if trying to form his next thought into speech. "The difference between your father and Gajeel is simple. I saw no way to redeem Ivan. There wasn't an ounce of remorse for what he did. No indication that he would regret his actions or that he wouldn't try something similar again. Gajeel on the other hand, there's something beneath that tough exterior of his. Something good, honest, and true. I sense it in the deepest part of me. With the right people around him, the right support, he can make something of himself. I think his actions today in protecting Levy and Lucy are a perfect example of that."

Laxus sighed deeply and slumped into the chair behind him, rubbing his hand down his face. "Ok. So you don't think dad is redeemable but metal man is." He paused in thought. "You do know that this doesn't reflect well on our guild though right?" Most people won't understand your reasoning and our standing as a prominent guild in Fiore will suffer."

Makarov chuckled at that. "You are your father's son in some ways after all. In the end, I honestly don't care what other people think. We're a family, and my family's opinions are the only ones that really matter to me. Everyone else can go to hell for all I care."

Laxus' eyes widened at the statement, then let out a small chuckle himself. "Well, at least you're being true to yourself old man. Can't fault you for that. But you have to admit you didn't really give two shits about how I felt about all of this, until now."

"I'm the guild master Laxus. Some decisions need to be made with a firm hand. I can't be seen asking for permission to do this or that, it will make my credibility as master weaken. You do understand that right? I'm sorry if you felt I disregarded your thoughts on the matter."

Laxus accepted his words as an apology, as much of an apology as he'd get he assumed.

It seemed the two men had come to an understanding, and Lucy walked up to them and took the other chair next to Laxus, smiling at both of them.

"Well, now that we've cleared the air, it's time to dole out your punishment." Makarov's small smile disappeared and was replaced with a serious expression.

Laxus and Lucy looked to each other, Lucy knowing it was now or never to put her two cents in.

"Master, before you make your decision, I'd like to say something."

Makarov looked to Lucy and gave a small nod as his answer to continue.

"Look, what Laxus did was not okay, I know that, and so does he. That's the difference between him and his father. Laxus knows right from wrong. He's apologized to team shadowgear, and myself for his actions and I know that he'll also apologize to Gajeel." She paused to give him a look that brooked no argument. Laxus nodded quickly and looked away with a frown on his face. Makarov smiled knowingly at the pair.

"He was obviously angry about your decision and it's impact on this guild. That should show you that he cares about Fairy Tail's future. Yea, he screwed up in how he acted on those feelings, but the fact he felt them at all should tell you where his heart is. Please master, don't banish him. Whatever you decide, please let it not be that."

Makarov stroked his chin in thought for a moment. "Lucy my dear, you're devotion to this guild, and especially my grandson are commendable. You really are the light of Fairy Tail. Thank you for your opinion on the matter."

He turned back to face his grandson.

"My decision is this. Laxus-you will be suspended from the guild for six months."

The two mages in front of him froze, their eyes wide. "Wh-What does that mean Master?" Lucy asked quietly.

"It means, Laxus, that you will not be allowed in the guild hall, and you will not be allowed to take job requests from Fairy Tail, or any other guild. You will have to make money some other way in the mean time."

"If I see you in this building, or find out you took a request from the job board, I will be forced to take more...drastic measures."

Laxus silently nodded while Lucy looked to her master with shock on her face. He knew what more drastic measures meant. He realized how lenient his grandfather was being and that he should take his punishment like a man. He certainly didn't like this turn of events though. Thankfully he had a sizable amount of money in savings from all his jobs with the rajinshuu over the years, so he'd make do.

"Master, don't you think that's a-a bit harsh?" Lucy tentatively asked.

"On the contrary my dear, It's quite tame compared to what most other guild masters would have handed down. Laxus should consider himself lucky." Makarov pointed out.

"Yes, I do Master." Laxus spoke up, making sure to be as professional as possible. He slowly rose from his seat with Lucy following his lead, but still wearing that same worried expression.

"Will that be all?" He asked his grandfather.

"Yes, I believe we've concluded our business here. Goodbye Laxus. See you in six months." Makarov waved farewell with a small smile on his face. That was all he could manage after suspending his only grandson.

"See ya." Was all Laxus could get out. He couldn't look his grandfather in the face at the moment. Both frustrated and embarrassed by his own actions. Lucy waved to Makarov and quickly followed Laxus out of the master's office.

Once the office door was closed, Laxus walked across the hall to his own office with Lucy trailing on his heels. He quickly shut the door, then strode over to his desk, sinking into his chair resignedly and sighing deeply.

Lucy crossed the room and stood behind the large mage, her arms coming to wrap around his hulking frame.

"Laxus, I'm so so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?" She nuzzled his neck, her breath fanning against his skin as she talked making goosebumps appear on his flesh.

"You've already done more than enough Lu, I couldn't ask any more of you if I tried." He grasped her arms as they hung around him and rubbed small circles into them with his calloused fingers.

Lucy hummed in response. "Well, where to we go from here?"

"We? Well, I assume you'll just go back to working with your team. As for me, I'm going to collect a few things here and make my way out. I'll contact my team later. The longer I'm here, the worse things are going to get. News spreads like Natsu's flames around here, and I don't want to be here when people find out."

Lucy moved to sit on top of his desk facing Laxus. "How am I supposed to go on like nothing's happened?! You've been suspended!"

"You just do your best Lu. It's not like we won't be able to see each other, we just can't be at the guild when we do." He comforted, rubbing his hand up and down her thigh. "I'd better get my things here and head out." He stood then and went to a liquor cabinet to his left, pulling out a nearly full bottle of imported whiskey from Bosco.

Lucy watched him as he went around the room stuffing a few odds and ends into a satchel he pulled from a closet. She didn't have any other words to say. Her heart was breaking for the man before her. All his life he was in this guild, making a living as a mage, and now he had to leave all of it behind for six months! She was grateful it was only six months, but still, she couldn't imagine what she'd do if she was in his position.

"Lu?"

Lucy looked up, startled a bit by his voice. She shook her thoughts from her mind and met his gorgeous blue eyes.

"Sorry, I was just thinking." She stood and followed him as he began to leave his office.

"I hope you weren't thinking to hard, looked like it hurt." A smirk graced his features for the first time since they came into the guild that evening. She was sure he was trying to lift her spirits. She should be the one trying to do the same for him! The more she spent time with this man, the more enamored she became.

She laughed softly as she watched him lock up his office and pocket the key. "Thankfully, it didn't hurt at all."

"Good." He replied, turning to her and placing his hands on the sides of her arms, locking her in place.

"Lu, I know these are going to be a difficult six months, especially since our relationship is so new. But don't think for a second that this will keep me away from you. We'll make this work. Now that I have you in my life, I'm not going to let you go."

Lucy smiled warmly at him then got up on her tiptoes to give him a chaste kiss. "You really are amazing, you know that?"

Laxus blushed ever so slightly and rubbed the back of his neck in nervous embarrassment. "I don't know about that."

"Well, I do." She responded.

They walked downstairs and Laxus stopped in front of the bar. "You should stay here, hang out for a bit. I know it's been a while since you've been able to spend time with your friends."

Lucy knew what he was trying to do. He needed some time alone, and she didn't blame him for that. What he said was true anyway. She really hadn't spent much time with her team mates and friends since the Phantom Lord fiasco.

She nodded in agreement. "Okay, I'll see you later tonight then?"

Laxus squeezed her hand. "Sure, see you tonight Lu." He kissed her cheek, hoisted the satchel with his things over his shoulder, stopping once at the door to take a look around at the family he more than likely wouldn't see for six months, then walked out into the evening to his new temporarily non working mage life.


End file.
